Although no team scores were kept at the Carleton Relays in Northfield, Minn., on Saturday, the men’s track team boasted strong performances in several events.

“We dominated the meet from start to finish,” head coach Scott Steuernagel said.

He said the Blugolds would have won the meet by more than 100 points if team scores were tallied.

“We had a lot of first- and second-place finishes in a lot of events,” junior Rich Maleniak said. “So we would have easily won the meet had it been scored.”

Eau Claire took first place in six events and earned second place in seven other events.

“I thought all the way up and down the roster we did a good job,” Steuernagel said.

The Blugolds captured first-place finishes in three relays, including the 4×100 in 42.13 seconds, the 4×200 in 1:28.32 and the sprint medley in 3:32.63.

Senior Rob Voss was the top finisher in the steeplechase. His time of 9:31.07 was more than nine seconds better than the second-place finisher from the University of St. Thomas (Minn).

Sophomore Glen Rogers’ toss of 158 feet, 10 inches in the hammer throw outdistanced the runner up from Gustavus Adolphus by more than a foot.

Maleniak narrowly missed provisionally qualifying for nationals in the 5,000-meter run, but his time of 14:57.47 was good enough to win by almost seven seconds.

After qualifying in the 1,500-meter run earlier this season, Maleniak said he wanted to run the 5,000 a little faster, but knows he will have to run faster in an upcoming meet.

“Even if I had just made it in, it wouldn’t have got me to nationals,” he said.

The Blugolds picked up second-place finishes from junior Scott Whirry in the long jump (22 feet, 5 3-4 inches), sophomore Andy Steuernagel in the javelin throw (157 feet, 7 inches).

Junior Jeff Bergstrom also captured a second place finish in the triple jump (46 feet, 2 3-4 inches).
Also earning second-place finishes were senior Mike Mascitti in the 400-meter dash (49.72), the 4×800 relay in 7:51.59 and sophomore Bob Schmidt in the shot put (47 feet, 10 1-2 inches) and the discus (153 feet, 8 inches).
Freshman Ben Bilke placed third in the 200-meter dash. His time of 22.66 was about one second behind the winner from Gustavus.

Eau Claire also had a strong showing in the 100-meter dash. Whirry placed fourth in 11.12, followed closely by junior David Hanson, who finished fifth in 11.27.

“I thought it was a real step in the right direction,” Scott Steuernagel said of the team’s performances.

The Blugolds will split up the team this weekend as some athletes will be competing at the Drake (Iowa) Relays and others will compete at the Blugold Invite at Simpson Field.

“We expect a strong showing,” Scott Steuernagel said of the home meet. It will be the first time the team will see UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stevens Point this season, he said.

The Blugold Invite is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.