Last weekend, snow put a damper on the Blugolds’performances.

This weekend at the St. Thomas (Minn.) Invitational, it was high winds and rain.

The weather conditions forced several field events to be held indoors, but junior Scott Whirry isn’t complaining.

In the long jump, Whirry leaped a lifetime best of 24 feet, 1 inch.

“I guess I just felt good that day,” Whirry said. The former All-American credited off-season preparation for his jump.

The leap automatically qualified Whirry for the NCAA Championships May 24 to 26 in Decatur, Ill.

In addition to Whirry, the Blugolds had two other individuals win their events.

Junior Rich Maleniak was the top collegiate finisher and third overall in the 5,000-meter run in 15 minutes, 19.39 seconds.

Senior Rob Voss won the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second-straight year. He finished in 9:52.49.

Junior Kyran Hamill, who placed fifth in the steeplechase, said it is important for the weather to cooperate at the meets because the season is so short.

“We have such a short season and (the weather makes) it hard because we want to get in some good performances,” Hamill said. “Once we get some good weather, we’re going to really see what we can do.”

Another top finisher for the Blugolds was junior Jeff Bergstrom in the triple jump. He placed second with a leap of 45 feet, 10 inches.

Sophomore thrower Bob Schmidt also gathered third-place finishes in the discuss (132′, 3”) and the shot put (47′, 8”).

Sophomore Glen Rogers also had a third-place finish in the hammer throw with a toss of 161 feet.

The Blugolds’ next meet will be the UWEC Easter Invitational on Friday at Simpson Field.