Eau Claire, Wis. (Blugolds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire track and field teams are in third place after the first day of the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, led by Erica Oawster's (Sr. – Lino Lakes, MN/Centennial) national title in the discus.

Results | Championship Website

Oawster, coming off United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Athlete of the Week honors, earned the top spot on the podium with a mark of 48.86m (160-4). The senior is the third Blugold in program history to win the event, joining Cheryl Janowitz (1993) and Lisa Marshall (1994 & 1995).

The 10 points have the Blugold women tied for third with Linfield, Loras, Pacific, UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point. Washington-St. Louis sits in the lead with 27 points.

For the men, David Kornack (Sr. – Edgar, WI) earned All-American honors with a third place finish in the discus with a heave of 50.75m (166-6) while Darin Lau (Sr. - Eau Claire, Wis./Immanuel Lutheran) also took third in the 10K with a time of 30:20.15. The duo combined for 12 points, which has the Blugolds in third place while MIT leads the field with 14 points.

The 4x400 men's relay team of Hunter Henk (Jr. – Beldenville, WI/River Falls), KJ Munn – Jr. – Bayport, MN/St. Croix Prep), Arik Skifstad (Fr. – Eau Claire, WI/North), Brandon Christnovich (Sr. – Holmen, WI) punched their ticket to Saturday's finals, clocking in a 3:12.86 to finish third in the prelims.

Kyler Lueck (Jr. Germantown, WI/WI Lutheran) and Patrick Treacy (Sr. – Fall Creek, WI/Eau Claire Memorial) finished second (3:56.01) and third (3:52.85) in the 1500m prelims and will race in Saturday's finals.

In the women's 1500m prelims, Morgan Marek (Sr. – Muskego, WI) finished 11^th with a time of 4:38.71 to also claim a spot in the finals.

Megan Wallace (So. – Burlington, WI) is in fifth place in the heptathlon after four events, racking up 2.872 points. The sophomore also placed 19^th in the long jump with a mark of 5.47m (17-11.5).

The Blugolds have a strong start in the decathlon as 
Dylan Cooper (Jr. – Holmen, WI) is in second (3,731 points), 
Abrahm Schroedl (So. – DeForest, WI) in third (3,646) and 
Jordan Lacey (So. – Greenville, WI/St. Mary Central) is seventh (3,591).

Also competing for the Blugolds on the day were Ashley Agrimson (So. – Peterson, MN/Rushford-Peterson) who took 12^th in the long jump with a leap of 5.60m (18-4.5), Chris Anderson (So. – Sister Bay, WI/Gibraltar), who finished 17^th in the discus with a mark of 45.30m (148-7) and Samantha Slattery (Sr. – Waunakee, WI) who was 20^th in the 10K with a time of 38:05.95.

The women's 4x100 relay team of Amy Chen (So. – Mayville, WI), Kady Kochendorfer (Fr. – Hudson, WI), Tommie Brenner (Sr. – Reedsburg, WI), Logan Fahey (Jr. – Belleville, WI) clocked in at 48.24 to place 13^th in the prelims while the 4x400 team of Glory Hecker (Jr. – Stone Lake, WI/Hayward Center), Sasha Riley (Jr. – Fairmont, MN), Karli Olsen (So. – Blue Earth, WI) and Lizzy Keena (So. – Wisconsin Rapids, WI/Lincoln) placed 15^th in the prelims with a time of 3:58.15.

Day two will get underway at 9 AM CST on Friday. Follow the action on Blugold Game Day or on the "UWEC Blugolds" app.