EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - Seven UW-Eau Claire Athletics teams competed today, six on the road and one at home.
Women's Cross Country
NCAA Midwest Regional - 9th of 38
The women's cross country team took home ninth-place honors at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Saturday hosted by Augustana College at Saukie Golf Course today. Eau Claire scored 265 team points. For the first time all year, Lucy Ramquist was the first Blugold to cross the finish line, doing to in 23:01.1 over the duration of 6,000-meters to nab 45th place out of 282 runners.
Men's Cross Country
NCAA Midwest Regional - 4th of 39
The cross country team saved one of its best performances of the season for when it mattered most, placing fourth Saturday at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional, hosted by Augustana College at Saukie Golf Course. The Blugolds finished the afternoon with 128 points to capture their best regional finish since 1998. Ryan Mugan turned in the best run of his career, notching sixth place in a personal-best time of 24:33.7.
Football
UW-Eau Claire 24, UW-La Crosse 21
Playing in the final game of the 2013 season, the UW-Eau Claire football team defeated UW-La Crosse 24-21 at Veterans Memorial Field in Roger Harring Stadium today. Joel Sweeney, who scored two touchdowns today, finished the game with 172 yards on 29 carries, ending his career with 4,021 rushing yards, third on the Blugolds' all-time list, and 861 carries, fourth most in school history. He also finished with 45 touchdowns in his career, tied for fourth in school archives. This season Sweeney had 1,168 yards playing nine games, tied for seventh best in a single season with Blugold Hall of Famer Roger Vann.
Men's Basketball
UW-Eau Claire 70, Hamline University (Minn.) 66
Playing in the first game of the 2013-14 season, the men's basketball team came from behind to defeat Hamline University (Minn.) 70-66 at Hutton Arena this afternoon. Trailing most of the game, the Blugolds outscored Hamline 20-6 over the final six minutes to secure the victory. Eau Claire took the lead for good with less than two minutes remaining. Adam Hjelter led the game with 22 points and Lewis Mau finished second for Eau Claire with 20 points.
Women's Basketball
Luther College (Iowa) 70, UW-Eau Claire 62
With the teams playing close the entire way, the women's basketball team fell 70-62 to Luther College (Iowa) on the final day of the Blugolds' Tip-Off Classic on Ken Anderson Court in Zorn Arena this evening. The Blugolds outshot Luther 42.1 percent (24-for-57) to 34.5 percent (19-for-55) but the difference came at the free throw line where Luther had 26 points and the Blugolds scored just 10. Carly Chell led the Blugolds with 15 points while two others reached double-digits.
Women's Hockey
UW-Superior 3, UW-Eau Claire 0
After tying fifth-ranked UW-Superior on Friday night, the Blugold women's hockey team came up short to the Yellowjackets 3-0 at Wessman Arena tonight. All of the game's scoring came in the second period, one on a power-play and the other two were even-strength.
Men's Hockey
UW-Eau Claire 2, Bethel University (Minn.) 1
The men's hockey team picked up its eighth straight win dating back to last season to tie a school record with a 2-1 victory over Bethel University (Minn.) tonight. Ross Andersen scored a goal in the first period and Joe Krause scored in the second period to give the Blugolds a 2-0 lead. Bethel added its lone goal two minutes into the third period.