The outdoor track and field team traveled to Roger Harring Stadium in La Crosse, Wis. for the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on May 6 and May 7.

According to the Blugold Athletic page, this past competition marks the seventh event for the Blugolds in their outdoor season, having started competing on April 9.

On the first day of the competition, the men’s outdoor track and field team had some high rankings in some of the events according to the results page.

In the 400-meter dash, Colin McClowry ranked first and Jordan Lijewski placed third overall.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Connor Dolan ranked second.

In the pole vault event, Mitch Stegeman placed first and Owen Williams and Abraham Schroedl were part of a three-way tie for third place.

The long jump section of the decathlon, the all-around athletics test in 10 events, had Marcus Weaver in second place and Tommy Mestnik in fifth. In the 400-meter dash of the decathlon, Max Foland finished in third place. 

In the shot put part of the decathlon Weaver placed first, Casey Chadwick placed second and Mestnik ranked third. The high jump decathlon had Weaver in first and Chadwick in a three-way tie for second.

Connor Dolan, fifth-year biochemistry and molecular biology student, said that having the track and field team had felt like having another family to rely on when navigating college.

“What sets the Blugolds apart is a combination of a tradition of excellence and also holding each other up,” Dolan said.

According to the results page for the women’s outdoor track team page, the women’s team also had some athletes land on the podium for their events.

In the 100-meter dash, Kady Kochendorfer placed third. The 200-meter dash heptathlon, the all-around athletics test with seven events, had Emilee Booker in first.

The 100-meter hurdles heptathlon had Booker in first. The high jump section of the heptathlon saw Emma Gruen in first. The shotput heptathlon had Jane Kautz in first and Jessica Kemstra in third.

May 7, the second day of the conference, saw more events that the Blugolds ranked high in. According to the results page, the women’s team placed in multiple events.

The 100-meter dash saw Kochendorfer in second place. The 200-meter dash had Kochendorfer in third. The 800-meter run had Schueth in third overall. In the 1,500-meter run, Carolyn Shult ranked third place.

The 4×100-meter relay saw Megan Best, Amanda Iverson, Gianna Kornaus and Kochendorfer in second place. The 4×400-meter relay saw Cassidy Eiers, Kornaus, Johannsen and Schueth in third place overall.

The triple jump had Kochendorfer in third. The shotput had Catie Fobbe in second. The discus throw event had Gabby Hicks in first and Kayla Behnke in third. The 800-meter run heptathlon event had Kautz in third.

The long jump section of the heptathlon had Gruen in third. The javelin throw heptathlon saw Kemstra in first place overall. For the heptathlon overall, Kautz ranked third place.

Gabby Hicks, a fourth-year fine arts graphic design student, said that the team is connecting as they continuously work together to build upon what they have.

“Working together during practice and really making sure everyone on the team has all the opportunities they can get,” Hicks said. “As well as, working hard and showing up for each other.”

Finally, according to the ranking page, the men’s outdoor track and field placed in a few events of the conference competition.

The 400-meter dash had McClowry placing first. The 1,500-meter run had Sam Verkerke in first place overall. 

The 4×100-meter relay saw Arik Skifstad, McClowry, Charlie Wolter and Stefan Klechefski in third place overall.

 The 4×400 meter relay saw Schreiber, McClowry, Josiah Ziebell and Lijewski in first place.

The high jump event had Wes Keller in second place. The shotput saw Yakob Ekove in third place. The discus throw event also had Ekove in third. 

The 110-meter hurdles part of the decathlon saw Foland in second. The pole vault event of the decathlon had Weaver in second place. 

The discus throw decathlon had Weaver in first and Mestnik in third place. The javelin throw section of the decathlon had Weaver in first place. The overall decathlon had Weaver in first place overall.

According to both the men’s and women’s results pages, after all the scores were calculated, the men’s team placed third overall with 131.5 points and the women’s team placed second with 137 points.

According to the track and field team schedule, the next competition the Blugolds will participate in is at the North Central Last Chance event in Naperville, Ill. The event is a two-day event on May 12 and 13.

Fisher can be reached at [email protected].