UW-La Crosse Wins Third Straight NCAA Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championship; Seven Secure Individual Titles

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--University of Wisconsin-La Crosse won its third straight NCAA Division III Men’s Indoor Track & Field Championship following two days of competition at the Golisano Training Center on March 15, while the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) secured seven individual titles.

It is the 21st national title in program history and 25th won by a conference program. Since the 1982-83 academic year, WIAC schools have combined to win 129 NCAA Division III team championships.

UW-La Crosse compiled a championship-record 84 points enroute to the crown, while UW-Oshkosh was second with 39, Rowan University (N.J.) third with 32, University of Lynchburg (Va.) fourth with 29 and State University of New York at Cortland fifth with 26.

Additional WIAC team finishes included: UW-Whitewater tied for 13th with 15 points; UW-Eau Claire 15th with 14; UW-River Falls tied for 16th with 10; and UW-Stout tied for 34th with six. A total of 70 teams accumulated points at the national meet that was hosted by Nazareth University (N.Y.) and Rochester NY Sports Commission.

UW-La Crosse’s Sam Blaskowski won the 60-meter dash for the third consecutive season with a NCAA Division III Championship record time of 6.62 seconds. He was also victorious in the 200-meter dash for the second straight year with a time 21.26 seconds. Blaskowski won both events for the second straight championship.

The Eagles’ Cael Schoemann successfully defended his title in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:50.08, while Grant Matthai was first in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:02.76.

UW-Oshkosh’s Joshua Rivers won the long jump for the second straight year with a leap of 25-7 1/2 (7.81m) - a mark that established a national championship record, while UW-Eau Claire’s Adam Strouf was victorious in the shot put with a heave of 60-2 1/2 (18.35m).

UW-River Falls’ Jacob Balcome became the program’s first national champion since 2012 – and second overall – when he placed first in the heptathlon with 5,304 points.

The following individuals from the WIAC earned All-America recognition from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Athletes that finished in the top-8 of their respective individual events and as part of a relay team earned First Team All-America honors. Those who finished ninth through 16th individually and ninth through 12th as part of a relay team were named All-America Second Team.

60-Meter Dash: Sam Blaskowski (UW-La Crosse-Champion); Davian Willems (UW-Oshkosh-Second); Londyn Little (UW-Oshkosh-Eighth); Stefan Klechefski (UW-Eau Claire-13th); Danny Vinson (UW-Oshkosh-16th)

200-Meter Dash: Sam Blaskowski (UW-La Crosse-Champion); Londyn Little (UW-Oshkosh-Second); Nolan Milas (UW-Oshkosh-16th)

400-Meter Dash: Collin Conzemius (UW-La Crosse-Third); Chase Doornink (UW-La Crosse-11th); Kobe Chandler (UW-Whitewater-15th)

800-Meter Run: Cael Schoemann (UW-La Crosse-Champion)

One-Mile Run: Jayden Zywicki (UW-La Crosse-10th); Derek Penzkover (UW-Stevens Point-11th)

3,000-Meter Run: Grant Matthai (UW-La Crosse-Fourth); Christian Patzka (UW-Whitewater-Fifth); Aidan Matthai (UW-La Crosse-Seventh); Adam Loenser (UW-La Crosse-Eighth); Gunner Schlender (UW-Whitewater-13th); Chuck Vater (UW-La Crosse-14th)

5,000-Meter Run: Grant Matthai (UW-La Crosse-Champion); Christian Patzka (UW-Whitewater-Third); Aidan Matthai (UW-La Crosse-Fourth); Gunner Schlender (UW-Whitewater-Sixth)

60-Meter Hurdles: Marlon Cystrunk (UW-Whitewater-16th)

4x400-Meter Relay: UW-La Crosse (Jacob Hohman, Chase Doornink, Devin Williams, Collin Conzemius-Third); UW-Oshkosh (Matthew Eiden, Joshua Rivers, Weston Lerdal, Londyn Little-Ninth)

Distance Medley Relay: UW-La Crosse (Joey Sullivan, Tyler Backes, Dirk Lueck, Adam Loenser-Fifth)

High Jump: Nathan Andringa (UW-La Crosse-Fourth); Wes Keller (UW-Eau Claire-Fifth); Caleb Cornelius (UW-Oshkosh-16th)

Pole Vault: Andrew Tumminaro (UW-La Crosse-Eighth); Connor Boyle (UW-La Crosse-11th); Sam Knox (UW-Stout-14th); Johnny Botsch (UW-Eau Claire-15th)

Long Jump: Joshua Rivers (UW-Oshkosh-Champion); Carter Pearson (UW-La Crosse-Sixth); Lincoln Begin (UW-Whitewater-Seventh); Sebastian Jefferson (UW-La Crosse-Eighth); Caleb Wright (UW-Oshkosh-Ninth)

Triple Jump: Carter Pearson (UW-La Crosse-Fourth); William Cady (UW-La Crosse-10th); Gabe Olson (UW-La Crosse-16th)

Shot Put: Adam Strouf (UW-Eau Claire-Champion); Karter Rashke (UW-Stout-Third); Soren Johnson (UW-Eau Claire-Ninth); Austin Rennhack (UW-Stevens Point-10th)

35-Pound Weight Throw: Gavin Fritsch (UW-Oshkosh-Second)

Heptathlon: Jacob Balcome (UW-River Falls-Champion); Cavan Dobberstein (UW-Oshkosh-Fifth); Payton White (UW-Oshkosh-16th)

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