UW-Eau Claire Wins Third Consecutive Men’s Cross Country Championship
STEVENS POINT, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won its third consecutive title at the 2016 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Men’s Cross Country Championship (Presented by Culver’s) at Wisconsin River Golf Club on Oct. 29.
The Blugolds secured the fourth championship in program archives with 41 points to exceed UW-La Crosse’s second-place total of 50 points. UW-Platteville finished third with 100 points, UW-Oshkosh fourth with 129, UW-Stevens Point fifth with 144, UW-Stout sixth with 152, UW-River Falls seventh with 175 and UW-Whitewater eighth with 179.
UW-Platteville’s Ian LaMere claimed the individual title for the second straight year, completing the 8,000-meter course in 23:55.2. His time established a conference meet record, surpassing the mark of 24:07.26 that he set a year ago. LaMere is the third runner in program history to win back-to-back championships, joining Ryan Kleimenhagen (2002-03) and Tyler Sigl (2005-07). A total of 87 runners completed this year’s race.
UW-Eau Claire’s Darin Lau finished second with a time of 24:19.2, UW-Whitewater’s Brett Harms third in 24:31.0, UW-La Crosse’s Thomas Schultz fourth in 24:34.6, UW-River Falls’ Daniel Borash fifth in 24:35.7, UW-Oshkosh’s Tyler Miletti sixth in 24:37.1 and UW-Eau Claire’s Nick Petersson seventh in 24:39.9.
UW-Eau Claire’s Patrick Treacy placed eighth in 24:43.6, UW-Eau Claire’s Matt Cyra ninth in 24:56.4, UW-La Crosse’s Jonah Weisse 10th in 24:58.6, UW-La Crosse’s Ian Ewers 11th in 25:01.6, UW-La Crosse’s Sam Hinz 12th in 25:09.9, UW-La Crosse’s Austin Zajkowski 13th in 25:10.9 and UW-Oshkosh’s Charlend Howard 14th in 25:12.8.
UW-Eau Claire’s Sam Kuhlmann took 15th in 25:14.8, UW-La Crosse’s Josh Schraeder 16th in 25:17.4, UW-Stout’s Devin Sauvola 17th in 25:20.2, UW-Platteville 18th in 25:23.7, UW-Eau Claire’s Riley Huffman 19th in 25:23.9 and UW-River Falls’ Julian Manley 20th in 25:28.1.
The top seven runners received All-WIAC first team recognition, while runners placing eight through 14 earned All-WIAC second team accolades. Individuals finishing 15 through 20 claimed honorable mention laurels.
UW-Oshkosh’s Charlend Howard received the Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award. The award is sponsored by Badgerland Financial.
An All-Sportsmanship Team was chosen for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season. It included one member from each school. Named to the squad were: UW-Eau Claire’s Ryan Graham; UW-La Crosse’s Thomas Schultz; UW-Oshkosh’s Tyler Miletti; UW-Platteville’s Brian Rivers; UW-River Falls’ Daniel Borash; UW-Stevens Point’s Lucas Johnston; UW-Stout’s Alec Boes; and UW-Whitewater’s Alec Meixelsperger.
# # # # #