EAU CALIRE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's track & field team started off its 2013 season by winning seven events en route to a second place finish at the Blugold Triangular Saturday afternoon at the Ade Olson Edition in Eau Claire.
UW-Platteville won the meet won the meet with 186.5 points, while the Blugolds came in second with 163 points. UW-Stevens Point placed third with 87.5 points.
Roger Steen (So.-Luck, Wis.) had a big day for the Blugolds, winning both the weight throw and shot put. He won the weight throw with a toss of 16.29 meters and the shot with a heave of 15.71 meters.
Two of the most successful freshman in Blugold team history started their sophomore seasons off on a good note. Thurgood Dennis (So.-Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame), who won five All-American trophies as a freshman last season, picked up where he left off by winning the 400-meter dash last year with a time of 49.64 seconds. His classmate Cody Prince (So.-Appleton, Wis./East), a recipient of three All-American trophies a year ago, finished second behind Dennis with a time of 49.88 seconds.
Aaron Easker (Sr.-Eland, Wis./Wittenberg-Birnamwood), who took home All-American honors this fall for the Blugold cross country team, won the mile with a time of 4:16.75. His teammates Matt Scott (Jr.-Kiel, Wis.) and Matt Cooper (Fr.-Ashwaubenon, Wis.) came in second and third, respectively. Scott ran a time 4:18.17 while Cooper finished in 4:21.08.
Eric Knutson (Jr.-Brookfield, Wis./Central) won the 3,000-meter run against a loaded field consisting of 31 runners with a time of 8:49.58.
Transfer Brandon Zarnoth (So.-Appleton, Wis./East), started off his Blugold career strong by winning the long jump with a leap of 6.55 meters.
The Blugold 1600-meter relay team also won this afternoon with a time of 3:22.29, easily outdistancing itself from Stevens Point's second place time of 3:27.05. The Blugold quartet consisted of Seth Friedrich (Jr.-Pine Island, Minn.), Jacob Dennis-Oehling (Jr.-Whitewater, Wis.), Prince, and Dennis.
The Blugolds travel to Menomonie next Saturday to compete at the Warren Bowlus Invitational, hosted by UW-Stout. The action gets underway at noon.
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