DELAWARE, Ohio (Blugolds.com) - The UW-Eau Claire men's and women's track & field teams completed the 2011 season with three runner-up finishes today at the NCAA Division III Championships.

As a team, the Blugold women finished in 11th place, improving one place over last season. The men tied for 14th overall, improving 10 spots over last year. The 14th place finish was the best the men have achieved since 1996 when they tied for 11th.

In the 5,000-meter run, Thomas Breitbach (Jr.-Muskego, Wis.) took second place with a time of 14:42.87, better than the previous facility record. On Thursday, he also came away with a runner-up finish in the 10,000-meter run.

For the women, Julia Baranek (Jr.-Port Washington, Wis.) came away with a runner-up finish in the high jump and Brittany Frederick (Jr.-Green Bay, Wis./Preble) was the runner-up in the discus throw. Baranek finished with a leap of 1.70 meters (5-07) while Frederick had a toss of 45.60 meters (149-07).

Talisa Emberts (Jr.-Sussex, Wis./Sussex-Hamilton) joined Baranek, Frederick and Breitbach with another All-American finish today. She took seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.45.

Also competing today were Jake Zander (Sr.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) and Tyler Genovese (Jr.-Stevens Point, Wis./SPASH). Zander took 10th in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:58.46 while Genovese was 12th in the discus throw with a distance of 47.60 meters (156-02).