Pioneers’ cross country ready for season

Platteville, Wis.- The University of Wisconsin-Platteville men's and women's cross country team will be the final Pioneer varsity sport to officially begin the season. The men and women open at Saint Olaf on Saturday, Sept. 17. The women's race begins at 10 a.m. and the men will follow at 11 a.m.

Head Coach Tom Antczak is in his 31st year at UW-Platteville and is excited about what the men and women showed at the annual alumni meet held on Sept. 10.

"Looking at the results from last year's Alumni Open Meet to this year's Alumni Open Meet, our top five men's times averaged 16 seconds faster than last year's top five," Antczak said. "The women's results reflect similar and maybe even a more positive outlook. The average time of our top five women this year was 36 seconds faster than the top five from last year. Our 10th woman this year was 2:02 faster than our 10th woman last year. What makes this more impressive, only four women on this year's team have participated in a 6k cross country race before."

Sophomore Logan Bell won the Alumni Meet in 21:54, Bell was the top Pioneer finisher at the 2021 WIAC Cross Country Championships (presented by Culver's), finishing 19th.

Senior Troy Humpal finished second in 22:01, while sophomore Riley Coulter was right on his heels, finishing third in 22:02. 

The improvement from the top of the roster and depth has the Pioneers ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III North Region.

"Not only should we be faster up front this year, but we have considerably more depth," Antczak said. "This is reflected in the coaches association preseason ranking, where we are ranked 10th following a 15th place finish at the 2021 NCAA Division III North Regional." 

In addition to the Pioneers' depth, they also have experience, with 18 members returning from the 2021 team. 

Senior Kaitlyn Galgon won the women's race in 20:47. Caitlin Gorge finished third with a time of 21:03. Gorge is in her first season with the cross country program. 

The first meet of the year will give the Pioneers an early look at the NCAA Division III North Regional Meet's course.

"We are excited for the St. Olaf meet this weekend," Antczak said. "It will be a great prelude to our regional meet, which will be staged on the same course on Saturday, Nov. 12, and we will see the same teams as we see this weekend." 

The Pioneers' lone home meet will be held at Cole Acres Golf Course in Cuba City, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Sept. 24. The Pioneer Gender Equity Invite will see both men's and women's teams competing at the same time. The men will begin the 8k course at 10:30 a.m. and the women will start the 6k course at 10:32:40 a.m. With the staggered start, men and women will be finishing the race together.

The Pioneers will compete at the UW-Eau Claire Bluegold Invite, the UW-La Crosse Drews/Neubauer Invite and the UW-Whitewater Warhawk Open, prior to the 2022 WIAC Championships (presented by Culver's). UW-La Crosse will host the WIAC Championship on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Maple Grove Venue in West Salem, Wisconsin. The women's race begins at noon and the men follow at 1 p.m.

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.