MENOMONIE, Wis. (blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's and women's track & field pentathletes and heptathletes competed on day one of the Warren Bowlus Open hosted by UW-Stout on Friday. The Blugolds dominated the first day of events as the Blugolds placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the pentathlon and four Blugolds sit in the top-6 of the heptathlon.
Jane Kautz (Sr. – Port Washington, Wis.) led the way for Eau Claire as she placed first in the women's pentathlon with a career high of 3258 points. Kautz placed in the top-3 in all five events including first place finishes in the shot put and the 800m. Kautz's personal best in points also ranks fifth all-time in program history. Kautz's also recorded personal bests in her indoor career in the 60m hurdles (9.46) and the high jump (1.50).
As Kautz led the way, Emilee Booker (So. – Genoa City, Wis./Badger) and Emma Gruen (So. – Elroy, Wis./Royall) were close behind as they placed second and third, respectively. Booker captured first place finishes in the 60m hurdles (9.02) and the long jump (4.90). Gruen tied her teammate in the long jump with a first-place finish (4.90) and was top-3 in the 60m hurdles (9.62), the high jump (1.56), and the shot put (9.78). Booker and Gruen earned career-highs on the hurdles with a 9.02 finish by Booker and a 9.62 finish by Gruen.
On the men's side, Max Foland (So. – Middleton, Wis.) led the way for Eau Claire during the first four events of the heptathlon with 2857 points. Foland captured a second-place finish in the long jump (6.65) and a third-place finish in the 60m sprint (7.08). Foland recorded career-highs in all four events as he currently sits in the third place. Mitch Stegeman (Sr. – Coleman, Wis./Suring) sits in fourth with 2715 points and recorded second place finishes in the shot put (11.85) and the high jump (1.92). Tommy Mestnik (So. – Prior Lake, Minn.) and Casey Chadwick (Sr. – Poynette, Wis.) sit in fifth and sixth place as the Blugolds will look to climb the leaderboard with the 60m hurdles, the pole vault, and the 1000m race on day two.
The multis and other Blugolds will compete during day two of the Warren Bowlus Open on Saturday, January 28th. The first events of the day are scheduled to being at 9AM at the Multi-Purpose Room on the campus of UW-Stout.
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