In its first outdoor meet of the season in Wisconsin, the men’s track team took second place Saturday at the UW-La Crosse Triangular.

“Coming off a good meet in St. Louis, we performed pretty well overall,” said senior Jake Vande Hey, who won the javelin with a personal-best heave of 167 feet, three inches.

La Crosse won the meet with 314 points, 12 more than the Blugolds. UW-Stout took third with 169 points.

Four other Blugolds won their events and two earned NCAA provisional qualifying status.

Junior Kurt Heilman provisionally qualified for nationals and won the high jump by soaring to a height of six feet, eight inches.

Senior Glen Rogers also qualified for nationals, thanks to a second-place launch of 167-6 in the hammer.

Junior David Hanson, sophomore John Schuna and senior Rich Maleniak joined Heilman in the winner’s circle.

Hanson won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.96 seconds.

Schuna, who won the NCAA Indoor National Title in the shot put last month, tossed the shot 52 feet, 10.25 inches. He also took second in the discus with a mark of 151-2.

Maleniak continued to lead the distance crew by winning the 1,500-meter run in 3:59.50 and taking second in the 800 in 1:56.54.

Sophomore Graham Phillips earned a pair of second-place finishes in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.

Sophomore Nick Dudycha (high jump), senior Jeff Bergstrom (triple jump) and the 400-meter relay team also placed second in the meet.

Sophomore Matt Goertz, who competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase said the distance squad didn’t perform up to par.

“There really wasn’t anything for us to be excited about,” Goertz said. “We were all running on tired legs.”

Goertz said the distance runners and sprinters should greatly benefit from a week off before going to either Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays or the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

It’s likely that not everyone will be resting, though.

Vande Hey said the throwers will probably compete somewhere over the weekend.

“We want to keep our arms loose,” Vande Hey said. “Usually one week is enough rest for us.”