WHITEWATER, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The sixth-ranked UW-Eau Claire men's outdoor track & field team took fourth place out of nine teams at the 2012 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship, hosted by UW-Whitewater.
The fourth place finish was the Blugolds' best finish since the 1992 season when they took second. UW-La Crosse won the conference crown, its 22nd straight, with 163 points while UW-Oshkosh was second with 160 and UW-Whitewater was third with 135.
Thurgood Dennis (Fr.-Allouez, Wis./Green Bay Notre Dame) won two conference titles, breaking facility records in both events. He claimed the 100-meter dash title with a time of 10.54 seconds, the conference's best time this season, and the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.26 seconds. His 200-meter dash time was also a school record, breaking a previous record of 21.4 seconds set by Dan Kelner on April 6, 1991.
Eau Claire also had four second-place finishes.
Tony Sigrist (Sr.-Byron, Minn.) was second in the hammer throw with a toss of 58.76 meters (192-9), breaking his own school record which he set earlier this season.
In the 5,000-meter run, Thomas Breitbach (Sr.-Muskego, Wis.) was second with a time of 14:35.79 while Jacob Dennis-Oehling (So.-Whitewater, Wis.) was second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.02 seconds.
The 4x800-meter relay team of Adam Moline (Fr.-Maple Grove, Minn./Wayzata), Matt Scott (So.-Kiel, Wis.), Alex Adkinson (Jr.-Whitewater, Wis.) and Aaron Easker (Jr.-Eland, Wis./Wittenberg-Birnamwood) was second with a time of 7:44.39.
The Blugolds also had five third-place finishes.
In the field, Joe Lilek (Sr.-Tomahawk, Wis.) was third in the shot put with a distance of 16.56 meters (54-5).
On the track, Tony Floyd (So.-Whitewater, Wis.) claimed third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.87 seconds, Easker was third in the 1,500-meter dash with a time of 3:53.69 and Paul Hetke (So.-Chetek, Wis.) was third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:24.02.
In the 4x100-meter relay, Seth Friedrich (So.-Pine Island, Minn.), Dennis-Oehling, Cory White (Fr.-Tomah, Wis.) and Dennis were third with a time of 41.81 seconds.
Tyler Genovese (Sr.-Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH) also broke his own school record in the discus throw with a mark of 52.31 meters (171-7) as he finished in fourth place.
Over the next two weeks, the Blugolds will compete at last chance meets, beginning with the North Central Last Chance May 10-11.
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