STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – With the national championships just a week away, the UW-Eau Claire men's track & field team gave one final attempt at qualifying more Blugolds for nationals at the UW-Stevens Point Last Chance competition.
On the track, Patrick Keyes (Sr.-Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) surpassed the provisional qualification standard with a time of 7.66 in the 55-meter hurdles. His time was second-fastest in today's field.
Two Blugold relay teams also had strong performances. The quartet of Jake Zander (Sr.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell), Jacob Dennis-Oehling (Fr.-Whitewater, Wis.), Alex Adkinson (So.-Whitewater, Wis.) and Aaron Easker (So.-Eland, Wis./Wittenberg-Birnamwood ) raced to the finish of the distance medley for a provisional qualifying mark of 9:59.45. Eau Claire also met the provisional time in the 4x400 race, as Dennis-Oehling, Nate Kelly (Jr.-Green Bay, Wis./Ashwaubenon), Marty Richardson (Jr.-Appleton, Wis./Kimberly) and Patrick Mackin (Jr.-Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) combined for a fifth-best time of 3:20.23.
Tony Sigrist (Jr.-Byron, Minn.) nearly met an automatic qualifying standard in the weight throw competition. Sigrist recorded a field-best toss of 18.72 meters (61-05.00), while the automatic mark is 18.75 meters. His throw still bested the provisional mark of 17.00 meters.
Blugolds who qualified will travel to Bexley, Ohio next weekend for the NCAA Division III National Championships. Competition is set for 12 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.
