Esten Challenge Results
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's track & field team captured the 19th Annual Phil Esten Challenge Friday night at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles finished with 149.5 points to win the team title while UW-Oshkosh was second with 114.5 and UW-Stevens Point third with 92.0. A total of 20 teams scored points.
UWL has captured the Esten Challenge title all 19 years.
The Eagles won five titles on Friday, including four individually. On the track,
Seth Holden swept the 100 (10.74) and 200 (21.75) meter dashes while
Charlie Handrick won the 400-meter hurdles (53.98). UWL also won the 4x400-meter relay with Handrick,
Joshua Desorcy,
Jake Sullivan and
Will Seeser (3:17.07).
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In the field events,
Justin Donkin won the hammer throw (188-2) for the Eagles. He was also second in the javelin throw (169-2).
Other top finishes in the field events included
Kyle Pulvermacher placing second in the discus throw (160-0) and seventh in the shot put (48-7 1/2).
Tanner Rahman was seventh (144-6) and
Michael Lampman eighth (143-1) in the discus throw.
Along with Donkin winning the hammer throw, UWL's
Andrew Jarrett placed third (185-11) while
Christian Morzinski was fifth (173-8).
Alec Morrison placed seventh (142-2) in the javelin throw.
Samuel Sadowski was second (23-7 1/4) in the long jump Friday while Matt Haynes tied for fifth in the high jump (6-0 3/4).
Kaleb Schuster tied for third (15-5 1/2) in the pole vault with teammate
Isaac Lock eighth (14-5 1/2).
UWL's
Ben Jones placed eighth in the decathlon (5,078 points), completing action Friday in the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500-meter run. He competed in the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash on Thursday.
On the track Friday, the Eagles' Seeser was second in the 400-meter hurdles (54.45) while
Dillon Murman finished sixth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.23).
James Hoesley was fourth (21.99) in the 200-meter dash with Sullivan third (49.28) and Desorcy fourth (49.51) in the 400-meter dash.
Brian Hansford finished sixth (1:55.00) in the 800-meter run.
The Eagles'
Joshua Schraeder placed fifth (3:54.62) and
Zachary Shoemaker-Allen sixth (3:54.76) in the 1,500-meter run with
Joshua Christensen finishing eighth (9:43.27) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Thomas Schultz finished third (30:21.47) and
Tyler Nault fifth (30:43.32) in the 10,000-meter run.
Esten served as head coach of the men's cross country program at UWL for 28 years (1970-97). He led the Eagles to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III title in 1996. UWL added national runner-up honors in either the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) or NCAA Division III eight times during Esten's tenure. In all, Esten's squads finished in the national top-10 in 26 consecutive tries and appeared in a national championship in 27 of his 28 cross country seasons. UWL won 20 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) titles under Esten. He was named the WIAC Men's Cross Country All-Time Coach.
He also served as an assistant track & field coach at UWL for 34 seasons. Esten is a member of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame, UWL Wall of Fame, NAIA Cross Country Hall of Fame, NAIA District 14 Hall of Fame and Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches' Association Hall. He is a 1965 graduate of UWL and former cross country and track athlete.
UWL returns to action Thursday, April 25 at the Drake Relays.
