The UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s track and field teams debuted their 2026 outdoor season on Friday, April 3 at the UW-La Crosse Ashton May Invitational.
The meet featured athletes from UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Stout, Winona State University, Viterbo University, University of St. Thomas and Northern Michigan University.
The Blugold women had multiple top finishes on Friday. Third-year Allyson Kakes secured first place in the 100-meter sprint finals with a time of 12.35 seconds. In the 200-meter sprint, first-year Britt Fitzgerald placed third with a time of 25.62 seconds. Fourth-year Kylee Grabarski also finished first in the 400-meter sprint with a time of 57.38 seconds.
Head Coach Chip Schneider said the weather conditions were not ideal, as the teams experienced heavy rainfall and chilly temperatures. As a result, other teams decided not to compete, according to Schneider, who said he is proud of how the Blugolds persevered.
“I think our kids performed above and beyond what I kind of expected based on just how poor the weather conditions were,” Schneider said. “So we did really well for what I thought could have happened.”
Kakes said she prefers the outdoor season because the track is larger, and she believes she performs better in the 100-meter outdoor sprint than the 60-meter indoor sprint. Since she has already broken the Blugold women’s 200-meter indoor sprint record, she said her main goal this season is to break the 200-meter outdoor sprint record.
“Something I’ve specifically been working on is my start of the race, because my strongest part of my race is at the end,” Kakes said. “So really trying to get my starting block better so then it will increase my overall time.”
Schneider and Kakes both acknowledged the Blugold women’s 400-meter hurdlers, four of whom placed in the top five and all crossed the finish line within the same second. In the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries, fourth-year Lauren Dimler placed sixth with a time of 14.79 seconds, and second-year Brooklyn Lamers finished third in the finals with a time of 15.54 seconds.
Other notable Blugold races included the 4×400-meter relay teams, who placed second with a time of 3:57.64 and fourth with a time of 4:07.79. Additionally, second-year Bella Hooker placed second in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:42.57.
Schneider said he was impressed with the Blugold sisters who competed in discus, fourth-year Kayla Behnke and first-year Kristin Behnke. Kayla Behnke finished in first place with a mark at 45.33 meters, and Kristin Behnke finished in second place with a mark at 44.78 meters.
Third-year Blugold Laura Bertrang also placed second in the javelin event with a throw of 39.15 meters.
UW-Eau Claire’s men’s team also secured top finishes on Friday. First-year Reilly Templeton placed third in the 100-meter sprint at 10.79 seconds and first in the 200-meter sprint at 21.42 seconds. Third-year Nicky Odom was just behind Templeton in the 200-meter, finishing second at 22.22 seconds.
Other first-place wins came from first-year Jonah Majerus in the 3000-meter Steeplechase with a time of 10:27.90, first-year Fischer Wait in the 400-meter sprint at 49.32, second-year Tyler Botz in the 110-meter hurdles at 14.83, second-year Blake Postler in the 400-meter hurdles at 52.07, second-year Jamie Reeve in javelin with a mark of 51.42 meters and the 4×400-meter relay team at 3:24.40.
Schneider said the teams’ main goal right now is to take care of themselves and stay healthy for the rest of the season.
“If we do that, I think we have men’s and women’s teams that both could be top five, top 10 teams in the nation,” Schneider said. “And the national meet this year is right down the road [at UW-La Crosse]. So it’d be nice for us to have a good showing, because I’m sure we’ll have a fairly large fan base there.”
Next, the Blugolds will be traveling on April 10-11 to the UW-Platteville Invitational.
Matczak can be reached at [email protected].
