LA CROSSE, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The UW-Eau Claire men's track and field team set new school records in the 4 x 100-meter relay and the shot put at the UW-La Crosse Qualifier hosted here today at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
The 4 x 100-meter relay team of Jake Pientok (So.-Whitehall, WI), Cory White (Sr.-Tomah, WI), Cody Prince (Sr.-Appleton, WI/North) and Thurgood Dennis (Sr.-Allouez, WI/Green Bay Notre Dame) sprinted to a first place finish with a new school record time of 40.72 seconds. The time broke the previous record of 41.07 seconds set by Pientok, White, Jimmy Paske (So.-Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins) and Dennis on April 22, 2015 at the Drake Relays. The time is the fastest recorded at the NCAA Division III level this season by more than two-tenths of a second.
Roger Steen (Sr.-Luck, WI) won the shot put recording the best throw in NCAA Division III of 61-3 (18.67 meters). The throw beat Steen's own school record set on April 17, 2015 of 60-5.25 (18.42 meters). Both throws were accomplished at UW-La Crosse. Steen also finished fourth in the hammer throw with his best toss of the season of 180-10 (55.12 meters).
Rylan Page (Jr.-Milwaukee, WI/The Prairie School) advanced to the finals of the 110-meter hurdles where he earned a first place finish with his fastest time of the season at 14.59 seconds. Nicholas Petersson (Jr.-Brookfield, WI/Central) ran the 5,000-meter run for the first time this season posting the best time of the day at 15:04.43.
Matt Dietlin (So.-Fitchburg, WI/Verona Area) won the high jump with his best performance of the season clearing 6-5.5 (1.97 meters). Teammate White finished third in the high jump by also clearing 6-5.5.
Jordan Jensen (Jr.-Waukesha, WI/West) finished fourth in the shot put with a heave of 50-10 (15.49 meters). It was the first time this season Jensen broke the 50-foot barrier and beat his previous season best throw by 16 inches.
Up next for the Blugolds will be the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships which will be held in Canton, New York which will run from May 21-23.
-KCM-
