Men's Outdoor Track and Field

UW-Eau Claire Wins NCAA Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship; Four Individual Titles Secured

GENEVA, Ohio--University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the NCAA Division III Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championship following three days of competition at the SPIRE Institute on May 28. In addition, three Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) individuals combined for four titles.
 
The national crown for UW-Eau Claire is the second in program history (2019). It is the 18th first-place finish for a conference program – UW-La Crosse owns 15 titles, while UW-Oshkosh has one. The WIAC has captured 121 NCAA Division III team championships since the 1982-83 academic year.
 
The Blugolds compiled 73 team points enroute to the title to easily surpass the 48 points of second-place John Carroll University (Ohio). The 73 points are the most since the 2007 championship when UW-La Crosse tallied 99. Massachusetts Institute of Technology finished third at this year’s championship with 40 points, UW-La Crosse fourth with 32, and Wartburg College (Iowa) and Rowan University (N.J.) tied for fifth with 30.
 
Additional WIAC teams securing a spot in the standings included: UW-Oshkosh 10th with 22 points; UW-Stout tied for 11th with 20; UW-Platteville tied for 14th with 18; UW-Whitewater 16th with 17; and UW-Stevens Point tied for 47th with five. A total of 80 teams scored points at the event, which was co-hosted by University of Mount Union (Ohio) and Greater Cleveland Sports Commission.
 
UW-Eau Claire’s Marcus Weaver posted a pair of first-place finishes, claiming the javelin throw for the second straight season with a toss of 219-9 and defending his title in the decathlon with 7,486 points. The Blugolds’ Sam Verkerke won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:45.96.
 
UW-La Crosse’s Sam Blaskowski was victorious in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.40 seconds.
 
The following individuals from the WIAC earned All-America recognition from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for placing in the top eight of their event:
 
100-Meter Dash:  Sam Blaskowski (UW-La Crosse-Champion); Robert Ogbuli (UW-Oshkosh-Fifth); Cade VanHout (UW-Platteville-Sixth); Aaron Richardson (UW-Oshkosh-Eighth)
 
200-Meter Dash:  Sam Blaskowski (UW-La Crosse-Fourth)
 
1,500-Meter Run:  Sam Verkerke (UW-Eau Claire-Champion); Justin Krause (UW-Whitewater-Fourth); Steven Potter (UW-Oshkosh-Eighth)
  
10,000-Meter Run:  Ethan Gregg (UW-La Crosse-Sixth)
 
3,000-Meter Steeplechase:  Christian Patzka (UW-Whitewater-Second); Connor Dolan (UW-Eau Claire-Fifth)
 
4x100-Meter Relay:  UW-La Crosse (Jordan Montgomery, Sam Blaskowski, Justin Kotarak, Kaleb Schuster-Second); UW-Eau Claire (Arik Skifstad, Colin McClowry, Charlie Wolter, Stefan Klechefski-Third)
 
4x400-Meter Relay:  UW-Eau Claire (Sam Schreiber, Colin McClowry, Arik Skifstad, Jordan Lijewski-Third); UW-Oshkosh (Rashaad Henderson, Amitai Wheat, Bo Koehn, Londyn Little-Seventh)
 
High Jump:  Caleb Cornelius (UW-Oshkosh-Fourth)
 
Pole Vault:  Abrahm Schroedl (UW-Eau Claire-Second); Eli Tranel (UW-Oshkosh-Fourth)
 
Long Jump:  Sam Blaskowski (UW-La Crosse-Third)
 
Triple Jump:  Shelvin Garrett (UW-Whitewater-Fifth); Jonathan Wilburn (UW-Oshkosh-Eighth)
 
Shot Put:  Kevin Ruechel (UW-Stout-Second); Yakob Ekoue (UW-Eau Claire-Fifth); Jackson Sheckler (UW-Oshkosh-Sixth)
 
Discus:  Kevin Ruechel (UW-Stout-Third); Blake Orr (UW-Stevens Point-Fourth); Yakob Ekoue (UW-Eau Claire-Fifth); Alex Girard (UW-Platteville-Sixth)
 
Hammer Throw:  Jacob Bugella (UW-Stout-Third); Justin Eichler (UW-Platteville-Fifth)
 
Javelin:  Marcus Weaver (UW-Eau Claire-Champion); Will Lawrence (UW-Platteville-Second)
 
Decathlon:  Marcus Weaver (UW-Eau Claire-Champion); Abrahm Schroedl (UW-Eau Claire-Third); Mitch Stegeman (UW-Eau Claire-Fourth)
 
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