The men’s track team had a busy day on Saturday as it sent its distance medley relay team to race in Stevens Point, while the rest of the team paired with UW-Stout to represent Wisconsin in a Wisconsin/Minnesota meet which took place in Minnesota.

The relay team set a school record in Stevens Point and qualified for the NCAA Div. III indoor nationals.

The four runners include sophomores Sean Gavigan, James Larson and Rich Maleniak and senior Mike Mascitti. The team ran it in 10 minutes, 4.6 seconds, which was good enough for third place in the meet.

“Everybody stacked up their distance medley relay teams for a shot at qualifying,” coach Scott Steuernagel said. “Those runners ran outstanding. We ran right with the other teams until the end.”

UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point beat the Blugolds in the relay. Last year those same teams finished second and third at indoor nationals.

“I’m happy with our team’s performance this weekend,” Steuernagel said. “It’s exciting to think that every athlete from our distance medley relay will be back next year.”

The Wisconsin representatives captured a victory in the Wisconsin/Minnesota Indoor Track and Field Challenge at St. John’s University. Making up the team from Minnesota was St. Thomas University and St. John’s University.

The final dual score of the border battle was Wisconsin 111.5 and Minnesota 83.5. The Blugolds scored the most individual points out of the four schools with 192.

Junior Jeff Bergstrom jumped 14 meters in the triple jump, which gave him first place and a trip to indoor nationals.

Junior John Brumund-Smith was happy with the team’s overall performance.

“It was nice to show that we can still pull out a win even though we didn’t have everybody there,” Brumund-Smith said.

Brumund-Smith outran his opponents in the 800 meters to take first with a time of 1:57.71. Senior Joe Haas and sophomore Kevin Larson placed third and fourth in the event.

Freshman Chad Crutchley ran a 22.32 in the 200 meters, which was good enough for first place. Freshman Chris Crutchley took sixth in the event, running a 23.04.

Crutchley tied sophomore David Hanson for first place in the 55-meter preliminaries with a time of 6.60. Crutchley took the top spot in the final with a time of 6.54. Hanson finished second with 6.57.

Sophomore Mark Meunier took first in the 5000 meters with a time of 15:36.72.

“They had some strong competitors,” Meunier said. “It’s always neat to travel to a school you haven’t been before and see what they have for competition.”