’Jackets compete at WIAC meet

The University of Wisconsin-Superior men’s and women’s track teams were in action Friday and Saturday at the WIAC Outdoor Conference Championships held at Eau Claire. The meet was delayed from more than an hour Friday because of lightning, and weather continued to be an issue throughout the meet.

UWS set a number of records in the meet. The men’s 4x800 relay of Scott Eisenach, Lee Sims, Matt Kramer and William Hermanson shattered the school record en route to a third-place finish in a time of 7:46.49. The 4x800 team crushed the existing record set three years ago by over nine seconds. The time also broke the Eau Claire outdoor track facility record, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the teams from UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater.

On Saturday the men’s 4x100 relay team earned a seventh place finish with a team consisting of Rob Tatinger and Joey Driscoll, Dave Schnurrer and Kal Fangman.

Driscoll also set a personal best in the 400 meter hurdles by sneaking under the one minute barrier for the first time by finishing in 59.41

Kramer also ran a great race Saturday in the 1,500 meters, but he was held off at the end for a second-place finish as Tyler Sigl of UW-Platteville won the event for the fourth year in a row.

In the men’s steeple chase event, Seth Neumann ran a personal best in 10:31.67, while teammate Ed Hirsch was close behind in 10:32.94

The 4x400 relay team of Kramer, Sims, Hermanson and Eisenach completed the day with a seasonal best time of 3:28.72

For the women, Sheri Niemeyer led off the meet on Friday with a third place finish in the hammer throw with a toss of 162-10. Niemeyer’s mark also was an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

Katee Rosburg also had an outstanding meet with her third-place finish on Friday in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in a school record time of 11:31.78. Rosburg then came back on Saturday in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:47.40, which was good enough for fourth place.

Jenna Halverson had a good day too as she placed sixth in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:48.86, just behind Rosburg’s time from the earlier heat. Halverson then came back for a difficult double in the 800 meters and earned a seventh-place finish with a time of 2:21.21, which was only 13 hundredths of a second from fifth place.

Both Rosburg’s and Halverson’s times in the 1,500 meters broke the previous school record, which was set by numerous time All-American Sarah Anderson in 1999 (4:49.62)

Other highlights from the meet include Alicia Bourget throwing a lifetime best in the hammer throw with a mark of 129-09. Megan Belger ran a seasonal best in the 200 meters with a time of 26.21 and also ran a sub-60 second split in the 4x400 meter relay.

Audrey Karbowski ran a season best in the 200 meters with a time of 28.75. Samantha Miller capped off her career with a sixth place finish in the high jump in addition to anchoring the 4x400 relay.

Niemeyer was nominated for the WIAC Women’s Track & Field Scholar Athlete of the Year Award based upon her cumulative grade point average of 3.745. On the men’s side, Sims was nominated with a cumulative grade point average of 3.87.

Miller was also nominated as a member of the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team for displaying exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season. Miller is former two-time NCAA National Qualifier in the high jump and earned All-American status in the event in 2005. Miller owns indoor and outdoor school records in the high jump, along with three hurdle records and two relay records.

For the men, Tatinger was nominated as a member of the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Tatinger competes in the pole vault, sprints and relays and currently is a member of three school record relays.

Some members of the UWS track teams will compete in Last Chance Meets this week at Minnesota and Wisconsin in attempts to earn qualifying marks for the NCAA national meet.

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