The UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s track and field teams divided its athletes across the Midwest this weekend for four different competitions: the Kip Janvrin Open in Indianola, Iowa; the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa; the Gina Relays in Hillsdale, Mich.; and the UW-Oshkosh Open. Athletes who are not normally top performers had the chance to prove themselves with a thinner field of competition, taking home numerous high finishes for the Blugolds at the four meets they represented Eau Claire.

UW-Oshkosh Open
At the Oshkosh Open, the women’s team took third out of nine teams and the men took fourth of eight.

Male athletes with solid finishes include freshman Spencer Lindholm, who earned fourth place in the 400-meter dash. Two more underclassmen also turned out good performances in the 400-meter hurdles: freshman Dan Koenig and sophomore Corrie Floyd, who took fourth and fifth, respectively.

Freshman Logan Koerten represented the Blugolds well in the long jump, taking first, while senior Dan Pederson took second in the triple jump. Another top field events competitor was senior Matt Crosby, who took second in the javelin throw. Standout sprinters on the women’s side include junior Ewa Warnquist, who took first in the 200-meter dash, and junior Alyssa Reindl, who earned second place in the 400-meter dash. The Blugolds’ 4×400-meter relay team also took second place. Sophomore Jenna Smith finished third in the 800-meter run while fellow distance runner Kelly Palmer, a sophomore, took fifth in the 1,500-meter run. Sophomore Laura Napier rounded out the top-performing runners with a second-place finish in the 5,000-meter run.

Female fielders who placed well in Oshkosh include junior Alicia Schuelke, who took first in the high jump. Senior Bridget Wolfe earned a third-place finish in the long jump while teammate and sophomore Amy Oldenburg took fourth.

To round off the team, Amy Morse, a junior, took third in the distance throw, while sophomore Hayley Suckow achieved fourth in the pole vault.

Gina Relays (Hillsdale, Mich.)
Blugold athletes also turned out good performances Friday. Sophomore Hannah Humbach took 12th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while teammate Mary Palmer, a junior, took 14th in the 5,000-meter run. Senior Molly Warner also finished with a 14th-place finish in the 10,000-meter run, while sophomore Elly Prunty took 15th.

On the men’s side, the 4×400-meter relay team took 16th. Athletes on the team were senior Brian Christ, sophomores Justin White and Tim Braunschweig and junior Chris Kupfer.

Kip Janvrin Open (Indianola, Iowa)
Athletes competing in Iowa this weekend also performed well. Freshman Zach Lee took seventh in the 100-meter dash, with a time of 11.27 seconds. Senior Kjersten Holt took eighth in the 200-meter dash and 16th in the 100-meter dash.

Drake Relays (Des Moines, Iowa)
At the sprinting relay showcase, Eau Claire took sixth in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:51.51. Relay members were senior Liz Faller, juniors Laura Broner and Liz Kooistra and freshman Corinna Saager.

The 4×200-meter team – which consisted of Holt, sophomores Briana Berg and Amy Bachinski and junior Anna Sutherland – took 11th at the meet.

Next weekend, the Blugolds will host the WIAC Outdoor Track Championships. The meet begins at noon Friday and will continue through Saturday evening.