Results
Decathlon (Day 1)
La Crosse, Wis.-The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's track & field team leads after the first day of the Ashton May-Phil Esten Meet at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles totaled 95.5 team points Friday night while UW-Stout is second 72.0 points, UW-Oshkosh third with 69.0 and UW-Eau Claire fourth with 66.5.
UWL recorded three individual first-place finishes on Friday in the field events. Joe Schmida won the javelin throw (169-10) while
Evan Daley captured the high jump (6-10 ¼) and
Samuel Sadowski won the long jump (24-0 ½).
On the track,
Zach Slevin took third in the 5,000-meter run (14:46.34) while
Ethan Gregg finished sixth (14:50.19).
Other top finishers on Friday included,
Matt Haynes third in the high jump (6-0 ¾) while
Chase Roehl took fourth (22-3) in the long jump and
Andrew Hermes was sixth (22-0 ¼). In the triple jump
Nick Crary placed second (44-11 ¾), Roehl fourth (44-9) and
William Cady fifth (44-3 ¼).
UWL's
Daniel Graf placed fourth in the shot put (51-11) and the hammer throw (160-5) while
Michael Lampman finished fifth on the discus throw (153-9).
The Eagles'
Logan Larson placed second in the pole vault (15-2 ¼) while
Kaleb Schuster took third (15-2 ¼).
Alec Morrison was second (162-11) in the javelin throw for UWL.
Ben Jones is in fifth-place after five events in the decathlon with 3,273 points.
Gunnar Block is ninth (2,939).
The meet is named for former assistant women's track & field coach Ashton May, who passed away September 17, 2012 after a traffic accident north of Adams, Minnesota. She completed her second season as an assistant coach with the Eagles in 2011-12. May earned her degree from UWL in 2010 in elementary education and was a math and social studies teacher at Holmen (Wis.) Middle School.
A four-year track & field letter winner for the Eagles, she earned 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III All-America awards, including second-place finishes in the long jump and triple jump at the 2010 outdoor championships. May was also second in the long jump at the 2010 indoor national championships.
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 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 Saturday April 17 in the second day of the Ashton May-Phil Esten Meet. Action starts at noon.
