Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Volleyball Remains 16th in Week 8 Poll

For the sixth straight week, the UW-Eau Claire volleyball team found itself ranked 16th, according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 poll.

The Blugolds won four out of five matches last week and captured a share of the WIAC title with a win over UW-River Falls on Wednesday.

Eau Claire will wrap up the regular season this weekend at the UW-River Falls Trick of Treat Classic and will host the four-team WIAC Tournament November 5-6.

Complete Week Eight Poll

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Cross Country Drops in Weekly Rankings

The UW-Eau Claire cross country teams fell a few places in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top 35 poll.

The Blugold women were ranked 8th, but fell to 13th this week. The men were 19th a week ago but are now 31st.

View Complete National Poll

View Regional Rankings

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Volleyball 16th in Week 7 Poll

For the fifth straight week, the UW-Eau Claire volleyball team found itself ranked 16th, according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 poll.

The Blugolds will wrap up WIAC play Wednesday when they face UW-River Falls. After that, the Blugolds will play in two tournaments, one in Texas this weekend and another in River Falls the following weekend to wrap up the regular season.

Full Week 7 Poll

Monday, October 18, 2010

UWEC Cross Country: Drews / Neubauer Recap

The men’s and women’s cross country team competed at the Jim Drews / Tori Neubauer Invitational this past Saturday at Maple Grove Golf Course near West Salem, WI. The men finished 6th of 28 teams and the women finished 5th of 27 teams.

The men were a bit too aggressive the first 1/3 of the race (6 of the men were 4:53 or faster through the mile), which made their goal of finishing the last 1/3 of the race strong a difficult task. However, getting out fast at Jim Drews should prepare them for Conference and Regionals where they will need to be ready for a quick start. Thomas Breitbach (sr.-Muskego) led the men’s team finishing 15th of 488 with an 8K time of 25:10. Aric Runzheimer (so-Kettle Moraine), who pr’d by 66 seconds, was the Blugolds second runner placing 31st in 25:32. Rounding out the top 5 for the men were Max Renner (sr.-Green Bay East)-35th, 25:35; Aaron Easker (so.-Wittenberg-Birnamwood)-52nd, 25:53; and Matt Scott (fr.-Kiel)-69th, 26:03.

Here’s a link to the complete Jim Drews results:
http://www.uwecblugolds.com/stats/mcc/2010/mcc_uwl_101610.pdf

In contrast to the men the women were a bit too patient the first 1/3 of the race on Saturday. The plan going into the race was to be patient the first 1/3 and focus on a strong finish the final 1/3 of the race. The women did accomplish this goal, however, they gave up a little too much ground the first 1/3 as evidenced by Margaret Ho (sr.-WI Rapids) and Molly Woodford (sr.-Waukesha South) who were 130th and 123rd at the mile and ended up finishing in 35th and 47th place. In upcoming races the women need to be a bit more aggressive to ensure they don’t give up too much ground early in the race. Elly Prunty (sr.-Antigo) had a break through race finishing 4th of 450 in a 6K time of 21:38, which is a 31 second PR. Rounding out the top 5 were Alyssa Sybilrud (jr.-Burnsville, MN)-7th, 21:58; Margaret Ho-35th, 22:34; Ashlyn Mauer (so.-Sheboygan Falls)-38th, 22:37; and Beth Easker (sr.-Wittenberg-Birnamwood)-46th, 22:45.

Here’s a link to the complete Tori Neubauer results:
http://www.uwecblugolds.com/stats/wcc/2010/wcc_uwl_101610.pdf

This Friday the men and women will compete at the UW-Eau Claire Lake Wissota Invite at Lake Wissota State Park near Chippewa Falls. The top 10 men and top 11 women will rest on Friday in preparation for Conference, which will be hosted by UW-Eau Claire at Whitetail Golf Course near Colfax, WI on Saturday, October 30th.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Men's Cross Country Moves up in Poll

The UW-Eau Claire men's cross country team moved up one spot to No. 19 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top 35 poll.

The Blugold women are also ranked in the national poll, holding the No. 8 spot.

In regional polls, the men are seventh while the women are third.

Week Five National Poll

Week Five Regional Polls

Soccer Ranked in Week Six D3soccer.com Poll

For the first time this season, the UW-Eau Claire soccer team has received a national ranking.

The Blugolds, who hold a 10-2 record on the season, are currently ranked 23rd in the week six D3soccer.com top 25 poll. View Complete Poll

The Blugolds also appeared in the NSCAA poll by receiving votes. View NSCAA Poll

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Volleyball Stays at No. 16

For the fourth straight week, the UW-Eau Claire volleyball team found itself ranked 16th, according to the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 poll.

The Blugolds won three out of five match last week, with the two losses coming against highly-ranked opponents.

This week the Blugolds will compete at home three times but will again take on tough competition. Eau Claire will face No. 10 Oshkosh Friday before taking on No. 14 St. Thomas (Minn.) and Viterbo University, which holds a 30-4 overall record, Saturday.

Complete Week Six Rankings

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Cross Country Teams Maintain National Rankings

The UW-Eau Claire cross country teams' national rankings remained unchanged from last week, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) top 35 poll.

The Blugold women stayed in eighth while the men are ranked 20th.

In the regional polls, the Blugold men are seventh in the Midwest while the women are third in the Midwest.

Complete Week Five National Polls

Complete Week Five Regional Polls

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Volleyball Keeps No. 16 Ranking

The UW-Eau Claire volleyball team remained No. 16 in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 poll.

The Blugolds will compete in five matches this week, starting with two on Wednesday in Duluth, Minn.

Friday and Saturday the Blugolds will be at the UW-Whitewater Invitational and will face tough competition. Friday they will take on Rockford College (Ill.) while Saturday they will face 11th-ranked UW-Whitewater before ending the week against No. 2-ranked Juniata College (Pa.).

Complete Week Five Poll

Cross Country Featured in Inside Wisconsin Sports

Setting the Pace - By Joel Badzinski

One of Dan Schwamberger's biggest worries is that his athletes will run too much.

The Eau Claire women's cross country coach grew up with the idea of the more miles, the better. Now, he believes there's a time and place for hard training but also for rest, recovery and gradually building toward the end of the season.

Does it work? Three straight WIAC Championships and a 2009 NCAA Division III National Title say yes.

"I think we all know that Dan's favorite word is 'patience,'" Blugold senior Elly Prunty says. "It's been drilled into our heads since the first day we met him."

Eau Claire fell from No. 1 to No. 8 in the Sept. 29 coaches' poll after placing second behind Oshkosh (No. 6) at the 32-team Roy Griak Invitational Division III race in Minneapolis. Naturally, Schwamberger reminded his team to stay patient.

"Going into that race, we were ranked No. 1 and we finished second, which long term will be a good thing," Schwamberger says. "Oshkosh and La Crosse beat us at Griak last year, and I think we're ahead of where we were then. We really put no emphasis on the rankings. Now, we're like, 'OK, we're a little bit off the radar' and focus on our thing and be ready when it counts."

That means patience. At the beginning of each season, Schwamberger, who also coaches the Eau Claire men's team, takes his freshmen runners aside and tells them essentially that it's time to let off the accelerator.

It's a speech the sophomores, juniors and even seniors need to hear sometimes, too.

"I think the big thing with distance runners is, it's a great group of kids who tend to be overachievers," Schwamberger says. "They're the type of people who want to do more. Anything they can do to be the best. They equate being good with running a ton of miles and they get frustrated with me. My big keyword is patience."

Not that Eau Claire runners take it easy. Schwamberger said intense workouts are balanced by "plenty of recovery." There are also workout days in the pool or on stationary bikes. Schwamberger also emphasizes nutrition and training theories so his runners have as much information in front of them as possible.

When Schwamberger took over the Eau Claire men's and women's teams in 2007, he encountered plenty of skepticism. The runners wanted to go, go, go, and he wanted them to be smart.

"We had to buy into his philosophy of being patient and not running," Prunty says, "because we were used to running a lot of miles. Then we saw the results and said. 'Oh, maybe he is right.'"

The Eau Claire women placed eighth and fifth, respectively, at the 2007 and '08 national meets following WIAC titles. It all came together last November at the Division III meet in Highland Hills, Ohio as the Blugolds won their first NCAA Women's Cross Country Title. (The program had also won the 1984 NAIA Championship.)

"We were cooling down on a hill after the race and we all thought we'd finished fifth," Prunty says. "We were just bawling. Then we found out we won. It was just insane."

Prunty is one of five runners returning from the 2009 top seven. Junior Alyssa Sybilrud, who led Eau Claire's pack at the national meet (21st) and won this year's Griak, has emerged as the top runner. Seniors Margaret Ho and Beth Easker and junior Kacey Rindy are also national meet veterans.

The Blugolds have two regular-season meets to go before the WIAC Championship on Oct. 30.

Even Mr. Patience is looking forward to it.

"I'm really excited," Schwamberger says. "Each week kind of builds on itself. Conference is that first real race we're focused on."

News and Notes...



FOOTBALL: Talk about an immediate impact. Freshman Joel Sweeney has scored the final touchdown in all three of Eau Claire's wins this season, including two in overtime and one with four and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Sweeney scored a "walk-off" two-yard run as the Blugolds beat No. 9 St. John's (Minnesota) in overtime. On Saturday, he caught a 16-yard touchdown from Austin Neu in overtime, and the Eau Claire defense held on the next drive to beat Stevens Point. Sweeney, a Tomah native, has rushed for 408 yards and five touchdowns• Ripon senior Josh Pasek has been a headache for opponents and a big reason why the Red Hawks are 5-0. Pasek averages 190.2 all-purpose yards a game (11th NCAA Division III), with totals of 282 rushing, 243 receiving, 145 punt return and 281 kick return• Oshkosh beat La Crosse 28-17 on Saturday, the Titans' first win in the WIAC series since 1972. The Eagles owned a 35-0-2 streak and 24 straight wins• Whitewater remained No. 1 in the D3football.com poll after improving to 4-0 with a 49-17 win over Platteville on September 30.

VOLLEYBALL: No. 10 Oshkosh (10-2) and No. 11 Whitewater (9-3) will renew their WIAC rivalry on October 6 in Whitewater. Last season, Oshkosh won the regular-season title while Whitewater won the conference tournament; the teams have finished first and second three of the past five seasons• Viterbo ran its winning streak to 23 matches on Saturday. The V-Hawks' last loss was on August 21 to NAIA No. 3-ranked Biola (California). Viterbo is 26-3 overall and 7-0 in the Midwest Classic Conference• Concordia senior Stephanie Boehm is second in NCAA Division III with 1.53 blocks per set.

SOCCER: MSOE freshman forward Paula Bohl leads NCAA Division III in scoring with 38 points (17 goals, four assists).

Story Online at InsideWisconsinSports.com

Cross Country Featured in Inside Wisconsin Sports

One of Dan Schwamberger's biggest worries is that his athletes will run too much.

The Eau Claire women's cross country coach grew up with the idea of the more miles, the better. Now, he believes there's a time and place for hard training but also for rest, recovery and gradually building toward the end of the season.

Read Full Story at InsideWisconsinSports.com

Monday, October 4, 2010

Football Moves Up in D3football.com Poll

The UW-Eau Claire football team moved up one spot to No. 17 in the week five D3football.com top 25 poll.

The complete d3football.com poll can be found at http://www.d3football.com/top25/2010/current

The Blugolds also received votes in the latest American Football Coaches Association top 25 poll. The full poll can be found at http://www.uwecblugolds.com/library/files/fb/2010/10-10-4%20Poll%20Release.pdf

Sunday, October 3, 2010

UWEC Cross Country: Blugold Recap

The Blugolds had another strong team performance at the home Blugold Open on Friday afternoon at Whitetail Golf Course near Colfax, WI. The women’s team finished 2nd of 16 teams behind the University of Minnesota, and the men finished 1st of 16 beating a deep field that included UW-La Crosse, St. John’s, St. Olaf and St. Thomas.

On the women’s side, Alyssa Sybilrud (jr.-Burnsville, MN) had a very strong race battling back and forth with All-American Simone Childs-Walker (Carleton) to the finish. Alyssa ended up taking 2nd of 313 two seconds behind Childs-Walker with a 6K time of 21:50. Elly Prunty (sr.-Antigo) and Margaret Ho (sr.-WI Rapids) also had strong races. Elly finished 5th overall in 22:18 and Margaret finished 9th in 22:46. Both Elly and Margaret did a great job of moving up throughout the entire race. Their places during the race at the 1600, 3200, 4800 and finish were as follows: Elly – 19th, 6th, 6th, 5th and Margaret – 25th, 11th, 10th, 9th. Rounding out the top 5 for the Blugold women were Molly Woodford (sr.-Waukesha South) – 16th, 23:06 and Maria Peloquin (sr.-Prescott) – 27th, 23:23. Overall, I was pleased with the women’s results; however, a few of the women were a bit too aggressive the first third of the race, which cost them during the last third. Therefore, the focus during the upcoming weeks will be on being a bit more controlled the first third so they are able to finish strong.

Here’s a link to the complete Blugold women’s results:
http://www.uwecblugolds.com/stats/wcc/2010/wcc_blugold_100110.pdf

The men’s team had one of best performances I’ve seen in my four years coaching at Eau Claire. They did an excellent job being patient the first few miles, working together from mile 3 to 4 and finishing strong the final mile. Thomas Breitbach (sr.-Muskego) led the men finishing 4th of 314 in an 8K time of 25:46. Aaron Easker (so.-Wittenberg Birnamwood), Jeremy Kieser (jr.-Verona) and Max Renner (sr.-Green Bay East) followed closely behind finishing in 7th (25:53), 10th (25:56), and 11th (25:58). Aaron Easker closed his last 1600 in 5:04 and moved from 14th at the 4 mile mark up to 7th at the finish. Michael Borglin (jr.-Whitewater) rounded out the top five placing 20th in 26:13. This race has the men’s confidence very high, because they now know they can compete with anyone in the conference. The key now is to stay patient focusing on the little things (sleep, recovery, nutrition, etc.) to stay injury free so they can race well when it counts. There are currently 9 men’s teams ranked nationally in the Midwest region, 5 will go to nationals, which highlights the importance of being ready when in counts.

Here’s a link to the complete Blugold men’s results:
http://www.uwecblugolds.com/stats/mcc/2010/mcc_blugold_100110.pdf

For those of you who want more cross country highlights, WEAU TV 13 in Eau Claire did a news story last week on the men and women. Here’s a link to the video clip:
http://www.weau.com/sports/headlines/104127344.html

The next race for the Blugolds is the UW-La Crosse Jim Drews / Tori Neubauer Invitational at Maple Grove Golf Course near West Salem, WI on Saturday, October 16th. The men race at 10:30 am with the women to follow at 11:30 am. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Women's Golf Ranked Second in Nation

The UW-Eau Claire women's golf team is ranked second according to the second Golf World/NGCA Division III Coaches' Poll of 2010.

The No. 2 ranking ties for the highest in program history. The team received a No. 2 ranking last fall and maintained it until late in the spring. In the first poll this season, the Blugolds found themselves at No. 3.

View Complete Rankings