University of Wisconsin La Crosse Athletics

Julianne Merkes begins her eighth season as assistant coach for the UW-La Crosse women’s track & field team in 2025-26.  The Eagles captured their 13th consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) outdoor title in 2025 with Ella Puls winning the league championship and Gabby Johnson finishing third in the javelin throw. Jadyn Roden placed third in the discus throw. 

UWL won its fifth straight WIAC indoor crown in 2025 as Madilyn Vander Sanden won the league crown in the shot put

At the 2024 outdoor conference championships, UWL's Johnson was second in the javelin throw and Izzy Carroll third in the shot put.  Carroll earned National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Outdoor All-America honors in 2024 with a fifth-place finish in the hammer throw as UWL placed second overall. 

Carroll captured the shot put crown at the 2024 indoor league championships. Vander Sanden was second in the shot put while Alexys Scheuerell placed third in the weight throw. The Eagles finished 12th at the 2024 NCAA III Indoor Championships. 

Merkes has been a member of UWL's staff in earning the, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Coaching of the Year Awards. She was also a member of the 2020 WIAC Indoor and 2021 WIAC Outdoor Coaching Staff of the Year. 

UWL swept the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The team secured 18 All-America honors at the indoor championships and 20 at the outdoor championships. The Eagles placed second at the 2022 NCAA Division III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. UWL earned 16 All-America honors at each of the championships. UWL was second at the 2021 NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships, its best finish since placing second in 1997. UWL earned 17 All-America accolades at the 2021 national meet.

Merkes was a member of the UWL women’s track & field team from 2011-15.  She placed sixth (2014) and seventh (2015) in the hammer throw at the WIAC championships.  During the 2014-15 season, Merkes was a team captain and earned various recognitions including UWL Scholar-Athlete, WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team, and U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team.

She served as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council for both UWL and the WIAC.

Merkes graduated with honors from UWL in 2015 with bachelor’s degree in biology.  After college, she worked at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, as a technical specialist for the Genomics laboratory.  She is currently working on her Master’s in Clinical Microbiology at UWL.