Five Blugolds Earn WIAC Athlete of the Week Honors

Five Blugolds Earn WIAC Athlete of the Week Honors

MADISON, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - Five UW-Eau Claire student-athletes have been named Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Athletes of the Week, it was announced today by Assistant Commissioner of Media Relations Matt Stanek.

Men's track sprinter Thurgood Dennis (Sr.-Allouez, WI/Green Bay Notre Dame) ran away from the competition at the Phil Esten Challenge hosted by UW-La Crosse winning both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash.  He secured the 100-meter dash with the top recorded time in NCAA Division III of 10.47.  Dennis also won the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 21.35.  The time was just .01 of a second off the top recorded time in NCAA Division III.  It was the first time this outdoor season Dennis competed in the two events.

Women's track sprinter Carly Fehler (Sr.-Oak Creek, WI) earned first-place in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash at the Phil Esten Challenge hosted by UW-La Crosse.  In the 200-meter dash, she posted the fastest time in NCAA Division III with a time of 24.52.  Fehler also won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.86.  Her time in the 100 currently ranks third in NCAA Division III.

Softball outfielder/catcher Amanda Fischer (Sr.-Wausau, WI/West) continued to produce from the plate as the Blugolds went 4-2 in conference play and are in sole possession of second place entering the final week of WIAC contests.  In a doubleheader split against UW-River Falls, she had one hit, a triple coming in game one, along with being walked three times.  In a doubleheader split against conference leader UW-La Crosse, Fischer was a combined five-of-six from the plate including three RBI and two stolen bases.  In a five inning 12-2 victory over the Eagles, Fischer was a three-of-three from the plate including a three-run home run and scored two runs while being walked once and earning a stolen base.  The following day in a doubleheader sweep over UW-Platteville, she went five-of-six from the plate collecting three RBI, scored two runs and stole two bases.  Opening the day with a 9-1 victory in five innings, Fischer went three-of-three from the plate which included a solo home run and two run-scoring singles in addition to scoring two runs, stealing one base and being walked once.  For the week, Fischer went 11-of-16 (.688) from the plate, which included two home runs, two triples and one double, while collecting seven RBI.  She added six runs scored, five walks and five stolen bases for an on-base percentage of .773 and slugging percentage of 1.375.

Women's track multi and high jumper Sarah Glidden (So.-Greenville, WI/Hortonville) set a school record while finishing second in the heptathlon at the Phil Esten Challenge hosted by UW-La Crosse.  She posted three top-two finishes - winning the high jump (5-7 3/4) and 200-meter dash (25.53) while placing second in the 100-meter hurdles (14.87).  Glidden compiled 4,785 points to break the previous school record of 4,636 points set by Kelsey Weigel on May 15, 2013.  Her heptathlon score currently ranks her third nationally.  Glidden’s heptathlon performance in the high jump of 5-7 3/4 (1.72 meters) tied her for the third-highest jump in NCAA Division III this season and is just 0.25 inches off tying the school record of 5-8 (1.73 meters).

Men's Track multi competitor Greg Peterson (Sr.-Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) secured first place in the decathlon at the Phil Esten Challenge hosted by UW-La Crosse and in the process produced the top point total in NCAA Division III with 6,692 points.  He recorded six top-three finishes, including first-place performances in the 110-meter hurdles (15.27) and the 1,500-meter run (4:27.95), while finishing second in the 400-meter dash (49.63) and the pole vault (13-9 1/4) along with third-place finishes in the long jump (6.57 meters) and shot put (37-3 3/4).

-KCM-