WHITEWATER, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville track and field teams wrapped up the 2023 WIAC Outdoor Championships (presented by Culver's) on Saturday afternoon at the Rex Foster Track Complex in Whitewater. The Pioneers men's team finished sixth out of eight with 56 points while the women came in eighth with 23 points.
UW-La Crosse claimed both championships across the two-day meet with the men finishing with 245 points and the women tallying 363.5 points.
Men's Highlights
The Pioneers sent four to the podium in the discus, with freshman McKade Jelinek leading the group with a second-place finish at 52.17m. Senior Ben Veverka came in third at 50.28m while senior Justin Eichler (48.08m) and freshman Beau Kopp (46.04m) finished fifth and eighth respectively.
Senior Cole Stugelmeyer posted a PR in the 110m hurdles finals, running a time of 14.58 seconds to place fifth overall and score four points for the Pioneers. Stugelmeyer was also awarded with a spot on the Larry Zirgibel All-Sportsmanship Team.
In the 1500m run, sophomore Elijah Wade earned a spot on the podium with a personal-best time of 4:00.04, which was good for sixth in the field of 24. Freshman Caden Schneider took 12th in the same event with a time of 4:01.51.
UW-Platteville's 4x400m relay team of sophomore Spencer Vanek, sophomore Zach Zenner, freshman Evan Graves, and sophomore Dylan Miller posted the Pioneers best time of the season in the event at 3:16.98 to finish third overall.
Vanek, sophomore Derrick Turner, Stugelmeyer, and sophomore Julian Samuels placed sixth in the 4x100m relay with a time of 42.56 seconds.
Junior Daniel Inyang finished just outside the top eight in the high jump at 1.90m to place ninth.
In the decathlon, sophomore Dale Yerges finished 14th overall with a total of 5370 points. He opened the day with a fourth-place finish in the 110m hurdles (15.93) and put together a solid time of 4:50.43 in the 1500m to highlight his day two performance.
Women's Highlights
Freshman Ella Mackiewicz tallied a runner-up finish in the high jump, leaping 1.56m to tie for the second spot on the podium.
Sophomore Brenna Noon took third in the shot put, throwing 13.56m to score six points for the Pioneers.
Sophomore Brynlee Nelson placed ninth in the 400m finals, running a time of 59.41 seconds. Senior Kaitlyn Galgon recorded a ninth-place finish in the 800m finals with a time of 2:20.34.
The 4x4000m relay team of sophomore Margaret Rusch, Nelson, senior Ashleigh Adamson, and Galgon took fifth with a time of 3:59.54.
In the 4x100m relay, Adamson, sophomore Madison Ahrens, sophomore Caitlynn Hahn, and sophomore Shannon Wulf finished sixth overall with a time of 49.42 seconds.
Junior Kayla Lipsey earned the Larry Zirgibel All-Sportsmanship Award for the Pioneers women's team.
The Pioneers will continue their season next Friday at the Eagle Open hosted by UW-La Crosse. The meet is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
