Results

La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's track & field team completed first day action at the Phil Esten Challenge Friday night at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles are in second-place with 18.0 points while UW-Eau Claire leads with 20.0. A total of 12 teams scored points Friday.

UWL's Corey Fairchild placed third (30:27.96) and Reed Anderson 12th (30:53.34) in the 10,000-meter run. 

In Friday's field events, Ethan Welch was fifth (47-9) and Kyle Peters sixth (46-11) in the shot put while Bryce Sitko placed fifth (142-4) and Spencer Prats eighth (137-10) in the discus throw.

After five events in the decathlon, UWL's Nolan Seaberg is in fifth-place with 3,244 points. Joseph Jensen is in 13th-place (2,955) and Bryant Yanke is in 16th (2,901). Competition included the 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash on Friday. The decathlon concludes Saturday with the 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin throw and 1,500-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.

Action continues with the second day of the Esten Challenge on Saturday, April 22 at 10 a.m.