Coach Chip Schneider said the invitational was a good way to ease into the season with “no injuries or big surprises.”

Schneider also said he was pleased with the outcome of the meet and the performance of both teams.

“Based on what I’m seeing, I’m happy,” he said.

Men
Eau Claire took 204.5 points overall for the win, beating UW-Platteville’s 146.5 points and third-place finisher UW-Steven Point’s 116 points. The Blugolds won six events and had 15 finishes placing third or better.

Senior Wes Fischer said he was satisfied with how he competed. Fischer, who won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.55, said his personal goal for the season, as well as for the rest of the team, was to win the national competition.

The Blugolds’ other first-place winners included:

• Junior Patrick Keyes in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.78
• Senior Brent Kann in the 3,000-meter run in 8:41.37
• Sophomore Austin Heath in the 200-meter dash in 23.46
• Senior Grant Haugan in the long jump with a distance of 6.70 meters
• Sophomore Tony Sigrist in the weight throw with a toss of 16.62 meters

Heath said he was proud of the team for competing at such a high level against two very formidable teams.

“We all had really good practices, and I think that it definitely showed in our performances,” he said.

Though he placed in the 11 slot, sophomore Michael Borglin was also satisfied with his time of 4:26.90 on the mile run.

“I beat a bunch of Platteville and Point guys,” he said. “That made me pretty happy.”

Women
The women’s track and field team also scored a victory Saturday, winning six events and recording 16 finishes of third place or better.

The team won first place in the meet with 210 points overall, beating second-place Stevens Point’s 134 points and third-place Platteville’s 111points.

Sophomore Julia Baranek said she was very satisfied with how both the men’s and women’s teams were able to finish first overall.

“Our head coach had mentioned the day before that he expected us to do well in this meet, so I think we made him proud,” she said. “We had a lot of athletes place, so the future looks good for both teams.”

Baranek took both the high jump and triple jump with a leap of 1.51 meters and 10.54 meters respectively.

Other Blugold event leaders with first place finishes included:

• Sophomore Brittany Frederick in the weight throw with a toss of 15.56 meters and the shot put with a throw of 12.17 meters.
• Senior Hayley Suckow in the pole vault with a distance of 3.48 meters.
• Sophomore Talisa Emberts in the 400-meter run with a time of 1:00.53.

Emberts said she was proud of her early-season win but still saw room for personal and team improvement.

“Our team has put in a lot of work, and it is finally starting to pay off, although we still have much to work on,” she said.

Both the men and women’s Blugold teams will compete next Saturday for the Warren Bowlus Open. The Menomonie event is scheduled to begin at noon.