Eight Pioneers to compete at the track and field nationals

Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will be represented by eight members of the track and field program at the Division III National Indoor Track and Field Championships in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  Seniors Gwen Orr (60- and 200-meter) and Brianna Leahy (shot put) will be joined by junior Grace Elvert (pentathlon) and freshman Brenna Noon from the women's program. The men's program will be represented by seniors Jacob Rice (heptathlon), Bryce Bierman (high jump), Alex Girard (35-pound weight throw) and junior Cade VanHout (60-meter).

Orr is ranked #15 nationally in the 60-meter dash after winning the event at the WIAC Indoor Conference meet, breaking her own school record with a time of 7.73. She finished second in the 200-meter dash at the WIAC Conference meet and ranked #11 nationally.

Orr will race the 60- and 200-meter preliminary races on Friday, March 11 and conclude with finals on Saturday, March 12.

Leahy is second nationally in the shot put behind UW-La Crosse's Skye Digman. Leahy finished second to Digman at the WIAC Indoor Conference meet. Leahy's best distance came on Jan. 29 when she broke the school record with a toss of 14.84 meters (48'-8.25"). Her mark at the Spartan Invite was the 20th best mark in NCAA Division III history for the shot put.

Freshman Brenna Noon will join Leahy in the shot put at the national meet after moving up to 14th nationally at the UW-Platteville Final Qualifying Meet on March 4. Noon threw a personal-best 13.79-meters (45'-3") to qualify.

The preliminaries and finals of the women's shot put will be held on Saturday, March 12 at 11 a.m.

Elvert is ranked 10th nationally after finishing third in the pentathlon at the WIAC Indoor Championships with a score of 3,314. Elvert set personal bests in all five events that make up the pentathlon.

The pentathlon will be contested on Friday, March 11 with the first event starting at 11:30 a.m. The 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and the 800-meter run are the five events Elvert will compete in.

Rice is ranked 10th in the nation in the heptathlon after finishing second at the WIAC Indoor Championships with a score of 4,875. Rice won the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles and the shot put at the conference meet.

The seven-event heptathlon will be contested over two days. The 60-meter, long jump, shot put and high jump will be held on Friday, March 11. The 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run will be held on Saturday, March 12.

Bierman is ranked 12th in the nation in the high jump with a top jump of 2.05 meters (6'-8.75"). He first cleared the mark at the UW-Platteville Invitational and matched it at the Sol Butler Classic hosted by the University of Dubuque. Bierman finished second at the WIAC Championships missing on three attempts to clear 2.05 meters.

The preliminaries and finals of the high jump will be held on Saturday, March 12 at 11 a.m.

Girard is ranked 13th nationally in the weight throw and finished third at the WIAC Championships with a personal best 18.23 meters (59'-9.75"). 

The preliminaries and finals of the weight throw will be held on Friday, March 11 at 5:45 p.m. 

VanHout finished third in a loaded 60-meter dash field at the WIAC Championships with a personal best 6.83 seconds. VanHout is currently ranked 11th in the nation in the 60-meter. All eight runners that ran in the 60-meter finals at the WIAC Championship are ranked in the top 20, with six being in the top 10.

The 60-meter preliminaries will be held at 3:05 p.m. on Friday, March 11. The finals will be held on Saturday, March 12 at 3:40 p.m. 

To follow the Pioneer men at nationals, visit this website. To follow the Pioneer women at nationals, visit this website.  The top eight finishers in each event will earn All-American status.

To follow the Pioneers all season, visit www.Letsgopioneers.com for links for live stats, postgame recaps and links for the contests that are live streamed. Follow the official social media accounts of Pioneer Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.