DELAWARE, Ohio (Blugolds.com) - Thomas Breitbach (Jr.-Muskego, Wis.) led the UW-Eau Claire track & field teams on day one of the 2011 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, taking second place in the 10,000-meter run.
Breitbach ran strong and came in just 1.1 seconds behind the national champion, Mike Spain from North Central College, to earn All-American honors. Breitbach finished with a time of 30:00.02, more than 29 seconds faster than the third place finisher. His time was 11 seconds slower than a school record he set earlier this year but was the second fastest time in program history and was a minute and 14 seconds faster than the previous facility record.
Along with Breitbach, Tony Sigrist (Jr.-Byron, Minn.) competed in a final event today, the hammer throw. Sigrist came in 14th place overall with a toss of 55.75 meters (182-11). The throw was his second longest of the season as he finished with a distance of 56.24 (184-06) one week ago at a last chance meet.
Andrew Storsveen (Sr.-Winona, Minn.) got off to a good start in the decathlon. He currently sits in fifth place with 3,453 points after five events. The decathlon will conclude tomorrow with five more events.
The Blugolds also competed in four preliminary events today, one on the men's side and three on the women's side.
In the men's 1,500-meter run, Jake Zander (Sr.-Chippewa Falls, Wis./McDonell) qualified for the finals, which will be contested Saturday. He came in ninth place with a time of 3:57.30.
Talisa Emberts (Jr.-Sussex, Wis./Sussex-Hamilton) and Jordanne Greenup (Jr.-Fridley, Minn.) both competed in the 200-meter dash. Emberts was the only one to qualify for finals as she took eighth with a mark of 25.11. Greenup was 12th with a time of 25.19.
In the women's 4x100-meter relay, Kim Miresse (Jr.-Waukesha, Wis./North), Emberts, Erin Schoenfelder (So.-Antioch, Ill./Antioch Community) and Greenup came in ninth place with a time of 47.73 but failed to qualify for the finals.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Emberts, Schoenfelder, Corinna Saager (Sr.-Wausau, Wis./East) and Greenup came in 11th place with a time of 3:52.67 but the time was not good enough for the group to qualify for finals.
Day two of the three-day championships will get underway at noon (Eastern) tomorrow.
