Five Pioneers to compete at national track and field meet

Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville track and field program will send five individuals to the 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. The meet begins Thursday, May 27 and will finish Saturday, May 29.

Senior Alexander Walechka is making his third trip to the national meet. He finished 15th in 2018 and 20th in 2019 in the discus. He also qualified for nationals in the hammer. Walechka will enter the 2021 meet with the third best discus distance (53.33 meters, 175'0") and seventh best hammer throw (58.67 meters, 192' 5"). Walechka may be the only student-athlete at the national meet who will have to take paid vacation from his full-time engineering job to compete. Walechka competed all season while working full-time and taking nine credits towards a master's degree.

Sophomore Justin Eichler and junior Ben Veverka will be joining Walechka at nationals for discus, while Eichler will also compete in the hammer. Eichler enters nationals with the 11th best throw in the hammer (57.72 meters, 189'4") and 16th best in the discus (49.55 meters, 162' 7"). Veverka will enter the meet with the eighth-ranked discus throw (51.55 meters, 169' 1").

Competing for the first time since high school, junior Brianna Leahy rapidly improved throughout the year and will enter the national meet with the fifth best distance in the shot put (14.55 meters, 47' 9"). The school record holder in the shot put also started for the women's basketball team in 2021.

Senior Katie Schilling used a strong third place finish at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship meet to qualify for the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.35. She enters the national meet with the sixth best time in the nation.

To follow the NCAA outdoor championships, visit www.ncaa.org or www.letsgopioneers.com. Follow the official social media accounts of Pioneer Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.