Results
La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's track and field team finished second in the 26-team Phil Esten Challenge Saturday night at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex.
The Eagles recorded 122.6 team points while UW-Oshkosh captured the team title with 171.5. UW-Eau Claire was third (117.5), UW-Stout fourth (95) and Wartburg College (Iowa) fifth (84).
Carson Reilly was fourth in the 110-meter hurdles.
Sam Blaskowski claimed the lone title for the Eagles in the 200-meter dash title (20.97).
Other top-six finishers on the track included Payton Flood third (49.25) in the 400-meter dash while Carson Reilly was fourth (14.93) and Lukas Johnson sixth (15.38) in the 110-meter hurdles. Dirk Lueck was fifth (57.23) in the 400-meter hurdles.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Corey Fairchild finished third (9:20.86) and Adam Loenser fourth at (9:22.73) while Michael Madoch placed fourth (3:57.17) in the 1,500-meter run.
The Eagles' 4x100 meter relay of Jake Lee, Blaskowski, Justin Kotarak, and Kaleb Schuster placed fourth (41.23).
In Saturday's field events, UWL's Cameron Sorenson was second (169-4) in the javelin throw and third in the long jump (23-9). Logan Larson placed second (15-6 1/4) in the pole vault and Aiden Williams second (188-2) in the hammer throw.
UWL's Nathan Andringa was third (6-4 3/4) in the high jump with Nick Crary finishing fifth (45-11 3/4) in the triple jump.
Joseph Jensen was seventh (5,721 points) in the decathlon.
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 April 28-30 at the Drake University (Iowa) Relays.
