NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's track and field team had never claimed first at Indoor Nationals in a running event. On Saturday, they won two of them en route to placing third at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Naperville, Ill., hosted by North Central College.
Watch Blugolds Being Presented with Third-Place Trophy
The third place finish for the Blugold men was good enough to win one of the four team trophies for the second time in as many years. The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference had a great showing, as all four trophy teams were from the conference. UW-La Crosse won the team with 74 points, UW-Oshkosh was second with 40, the Blugolds third with 37, and UW-Whitewater was fourth with 35.
Thurgood Dennis (So.-Allouez, Wis./Notre Dame) was involved in both of those first place finishes, as the sophomore claimed his first career individual national championship in the 60-meter dash with a new school record time of 6.76 seconds, breaking his own record he broke two weeks ago. He was also .01 seconds away from tying the all-time Division III National Meet record, but did set a new facility record. View Dennis Running in 60-Meter Dash
Dennis teamed up with Cody Prince (So.-Appleton, Wis./North), Jacob Dennis-Oehling (Jr.-Whitewater, Wis.) and Joe Makeever (So.-Appleton, Wis./North) to win the 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:15.69, also a new school record. The Blugold quartet came into the meet seeded fifth and were placed in the heat with the slower qualifying times. They ran the entire heat by themselves and posted a fast enough time to win despite not going head-to-head with the top seeds. View the 4x400-Meter Team Competing | View Celebration
Roger Steen (So.-Luck, Wis.) had perhaps the biggest surprise of the meet, placing third while besting his seed by five places. His toss of 17.52 meters (57-5.75) beat his personal best by almost 0.3 meters and was good enough to earn his first All-American honors in his first trip to Nationals.
Matt Scott (Jr.-Kiel, Wis.) ran to a new school record in the mile run, placing fifth with a time of 4:10.01. It was his first National Meet and his first All-American placing.
After setting the school record yesterday in the 400-meter dash prelims, Prince ran the exact same time of 48.97 seconds to place sixth, claiming his second individual All-American honors after placing eighth in the same event last year. View Prince's 400-Meter Dash
Aaron Easker (Sr.-Eland, Wis./Wittenberg-Birnamwood) ran a packed-up and physical race to come away with a sixth place finish in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 14:32.91. Easker received All-American honors for the first time individually in track after garnering All-American status in cross country this past fall for the Blugolds.
Brandon Zarnoth (So.-Appleton, Wis./North) claimed eighth place in the heptathlon with 4,836 points. It is the transfer's first All-American honors in a Blugold uniform.
On the women's side, Erin Schoenfelder (Sr.-Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community) broke her own school record and placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.78 seconds. After grabbing the last qualifying spot in prelims yesterday, she moved up three spots to grab her first individual All-American for the Blugolds. Watch Schoenfelder Competing in 60-Meter Hurdles
Schoenfelder then ran with Jessie Reineck (Fr.-Greenville, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran), Brooke Patterson (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) and Steph Rouse (So.-Minnetonka, Wis./Hopkins) in the 4x400 relay. The quartet just missed out on All-American honors, placing ninth with a time of 3:52.97, just .3 seconds off of their school record time that the same four athletes set last weekend.
Schoenfelder's fifth place finish capped all of the scoring for the Blugold women, as they tied for 43rd with 4 points. UW-Oshkosh won the National Championship with 56 team points.
This historical National Meet caps the indoor season for the Blugold men and women, and both teams will take a month off before starting the outdoor season on April 5 at UW-La Crosse.
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Indoor Track & Field Teams Have Strong First Day at Nationals
Posted: March 8, 2013 - 7:15 p.m.
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Blugolds.com) - In a day where no athletes competed in a finals competition, the UW-Eau Claire men's and women's indoor track & field teams still found plenty of highlights in the first day of the NCAA Division III Championships in Naperville, Ill., hosted by North Central College.
All five Blugolds competing today performed well enough to get themselves in a position to place in tomorrow's finals, as all five will be seeded eighth or better.
Cody Prince (So.-Appleton, Wis./North) set a new indoor school record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.97 seconds, besting a one-year-old school record by .03 seconds. Prince came into the meet seeded 10th, but will be seeded fifth in the finals tomorrow.
Thurgood Dennis (So.-Allouez, Wis./Green Bay Notre Dame) saw his 400 record get erased by Prince earlier the day, but also ran well to grab the top spot in the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.82 seconds. He will be seeded first in tomorrow's final.
First time Nationals participant Matt Scott (Jr.-Kiel, Wis.) placed sixth in the mile run with a time 4:16.55 to grab one of the 10 spots for the final tomorrow afternoon.
Brandon Zarnoth (So.-Appleton, Wis./North) currently finds himself in sixth place in the heptathlon. After four out of the eight events completed, Zarnoth has 2,713 points.
The lone women's individual qualifier, Erin Schoenfelder (Sr. Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community) found out just how much every little bit counts, as she was the last person to qualify for the 60-meter hurdles finals with a time of 8.89 seconds, just edging out Ashante Little from Wheaton (Mass.) by .01 seconds for the last qualifying spot. She will be seeded eighth tomorrow.
Since the Blugolds did not have scored events today, they do not accumulate any team points. UW-La Crosse leads the men's side with 35 points, while UW-Oshkosh leads on the women's side with 26 points.
After a successful first day, all 12 Blugold qualifiers will compete tomorrow in a total of nine scored events. Action will get underway at 11 a.m.
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Twelve Blugold Indoor Track & Field Members to Compete at Nationals
Posted: March 4, 2013 - 1 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Blugolds.com) - A total of 12 UW-Eau Claire men's and women's indoor track & field members have qualified to compete at the 2013 NCAA Division III Championships, NCAA officials announced today.
The championships will be contested March 8-9 at the Al B. Carius Track - Residence Hall/Recreation Center on the campus of North Central College (Ill.).
View Additional Championship Info
Eight men and four women will compete at nationals in nine different events. A complete breakdown follows.
Men
60-meter dash: Thurgood Dennis (So.-Allouez, Wis./Green Bay Notre Dame)
400-meter dash: Cody Prince (So.-Appleton, Wis./North)
1-mile run: Matt Scott (Jr.-Kiel, Wis.)
5,000-meter run: Aaron Easker (Sr.-Eland, Wis./Wittenberg-Birnamwood)
4x400-meter relay: Prince, Jacob Dennis-Oehling (Jr.-Whitewater, Wis.), Joe Makeever (So.-Appleton, Wis./North), Dennis
Shot Put: Roger Steen (So.-Luck, Wis.)
Heptathlon: Brandon Zarnoth (So.-Appleton, Wis./North)
View Complete List of Men's Qualifiers
Women
60-meter hurdles: Erin Schoenfelder (Sr.-Antioch, Wis./Antioch Community)
4x400-meter relay: Jessie Reineck (Fr.-Greenville, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran), Schoenfelder, Brooke Patterson (So.-Sussex, Wis./Hamilton), Steph Rouse (So.-Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins)
View Complete List of Women's Qualifiers
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