DES MOINES, Iowa (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire men's 4 x 100-meter relay team along with 100-meter sprinter Thurgood Dennis (Sr.-Allouez, WI/Green Bay Notre Dame) advanced to tomorrow's finals on day three of the Drake Relays hosted today at Drake Stadium.
Dennis advanced to the finals of the 100-meter dash by posting the fourth-fastest time in the College/University division preliminaries with a time of 10.62 seconds. Dennis is one of eight finalists who will compete in tomorrow's 100-meter final. Dennis, the lone NCAA Division III competitor in the field, will be competing against six NCAA Division I runners and one NCAA Division II participant.
Also advancing to championship Saturday will be the 4 x 100-meter relay team of Jake Pientok (So.-Whitehall, WI), Cory White (Sr.-Tomah, WI), Jimmy Paske (So.-Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins) and Dennis who posted the ninth-fastest time in the College Division preliminaries of 41.48 seconds.
The 4 x 400-meter relay team of Cody Prince (Sr.-Appleton, WI/North), Pientok, Will LaJeunesse (Jr.-Belle Plaine, MN) and Paske finished 16th overall in the College Division preliminaries finishing with a time of 3:15.33.
Roger Steen (Sr.-Luck, WI) will also join Dennis and the 4 x 100-meter relay team on Saturday as he will be competing in the shot put.
The Blugolds will compete in the St. Mary's (MN) Open tomorrow before competing at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 1-2 at UW-La Crosse.
-KCM-
