CANTON, NY (Blugolds.com) – UW-Eau Claire men's track and field team advanced one individual and two relays to Saturday's finals along with two decathletes among the top six finishers at the conclusion of day one of the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by St. Lawrence University at the Merrick-Pinkard Track and Field Complex.
Thurgood Dennis (Sr.-Allouez, WI/Green Bay Notre Dame) advanced to the finals of the 200-meter dash posting the fastest time in preliminary heats of 21.21 seconds. Dennis will have a chance to win his first outdoor 200-meter dash national title on Saturday.
Dennis was not done as he anchored two Blugold relays into Saturday's finals. The 4 x 100-meter relay of Jake Pientok (So.-Whitehall, WI), Cory White (Sr.-Tomah, WI), Cody Prince (Sr.-Appleton, WI/North) and Dennis recorded the fastest time in preliminaries of 40.83 seconds. The relay will look to win the school's first outdoor 4 x 100-meter relay national championship since 1990.
The 4 x 400-meter relay of Jimmy Paske (So.-Minnetonka, MN/Hopkins), Prince, Will LaJeunesse (Jr.-Belle Plaine, MN) and Dennis will also compete in Saturday's final advancing with the second fastest time of the day of 3:13.88. Prince and Dennis will look to earn their second 4 x 400-meter relay outdoor national championship of their careers. Both were members of the 2013 outdoor national champion 4 x 400-meter relay squad.
Brandon Zarnoth (Sr.-Appleton, WI/North) leads all competitors after day one of the decathlon with a total of 3,883 points. Zarnoth won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.80 seconds, placed second in the long jump with a leap of 22-2.25 (6.76 meters) and shot put with a toss of 45-1.5 (13.75 meters) while finishing tied for eighth in the high jump clearing 6-.75 (1.85 meters).
Teammate Greg Peterson (Sr.-Hartland, WI/Arrowhead) finished day one in sixth place earning 3,557 points. Peterson finished eighth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.22 seconds while tying Zarnoth for eighth place in the high jump. Peterson also finished ninth in the long jump with a leap of 21-3.25 (6.48 meters) and 13th in the shot put with a top toss of 38-1.25 (11.61 meters).
Both men will complete the decathlon tomorrow with a chance to become the first national champion in school history.
Matthew Cooper (Jr.-Ashwaubenon, WI) advanced to the finals of the 1,500-meter run finishing in 10th place with a time of 3:55.32.
Ryan Mugan (Jr.-Howards Grove, WI) placed 10th in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 31:30.96. Christian Leitner (Jr.-Red Wing, MN) finished 16th in the same event with a time of 32:05.61.
Day two of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships continues tomorrow. Zarnoth and Peterson will complete the decathlon while Rylan Page (Jr.-Milwaukee, WI/The Prairie School) will compete in the preliminaries of the 110-meter hurdles. Prince will do likewise in the 400-meter dash and Dennis will begin the quest to win second 100-meter dash outdoor national title.
-KCM-
