Women's Outdoor Track & Field Moves up in Poll

The UW-Eau Claire women's track & field team moved up six spots in the latest USTFCCCA top 25 poll.

The Blugolds are currently 14th in the latest national rankings.

In regional rankings, the Blugold women are second while the men are eighth.

View Complete National Rankings

View Complete Regional Rankings

UWEC CC/Track – Outdoor Update

The outdoor track season is off to a great start for the UW-Eau Claire women’s and men’s track & field teams. The Blugolds have competed in two meets at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA on Saturday, April 2nd and this past Saturday, April 9th at UW-Platteville.

At Wartburg the entire middle distance / distance women’s team competed in the 1500 with several people doubling back in the 800 or 4 x 400 relay. Maria Peloquin (sr.-Prescott) led the way in the 1500 finishing 4th in a personal best time of 4:48.44. Ashlyn Mauer (so.-Sheboygan Falls), Madison Sawyer (so.-Champlin Park) and Jami Riley (fr.-Fairmont, MN) also set personal bests finishing 6th, 10th and 12th with times of 4:53, 4:57 and 5:00.

On the men’s side at Wartburg freshman Matt Scott (Kiel) had an impressive meet running 4:01 in the 1500 to finish 7th and then Matt doubled back in the 800 with a PR time of 1:57 to finish 6th. Jake Zander (sr.-Chippewa Falls McDonell) and Aaron Easker (so.-Wittenberg-Birnamwood) led the way in the 1500 finishing 4th and 5th overall both running times of 3:59.

Here’s a link to the complete Wartburg results:
http://www.uwecblugolds.com/stats/motr/2011/otr_wartburg_040211.htm

At Platteville this past weekend the middle distance / distance crew had 10 PR’s on the women’s side and 11 PR’s on the men’s side. Ashlyn Mauer led the way for the women winning the 3000m Steeplechase by 30 seconds in a NCAA Provisional qualifying time of 10:53. This is a 53 second PR and ranks Ashlyn 6th nationally in Division III. In the 800 three women broke 2:20 with Maria Peloquin leading the way with a 2:15 4th place finish. Taylor McMillan (so.-Stoughton) and Jami Riley both ran PR times of 2:17 and 2:19 to finish 7th and 10th overall. In the 1500 Nicole Blahnik (so.-Antigo) ran strong finishing 7th in a PR time of 4:54. Five Blugold women placed in the top 8 in the 5K with Teresa Coughlin (jr.-Coon Rapids, MN) finishing 2nd in a 32” PR time of 18:31. Madison Sawyer, who ran her first 5K on the track, wasn’t far behind Teresa finishing 3rd overall in 18:33. Rounding out the top 5 in the 5K were Michelle Brunshidle (so.-St. Croix Central)-5th, 18:47; Molly Woodford (sr.-Waukesha South)-7th, 18:58; and Kacey Rindy (jr.-Fennimore)-8th, 18:59.

On the men’s side, Thomas Breitbach set a new UW-Eau Claire outdoor school record in the 5K with a time of 14:29. The previous record of 14:39 was set by Mike Monk in 1990. Breitbach’s time is a NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark and currently ranks him 2nd in the nation. Aaron Easker and Jeremy Kieser (so.-Verona) also had strong performances in the 5K. Easker, in his 5K debut, finished 6th overall in 15:01, and Kieser finished 8th overall in a PR time of 15:05. In the 800 Jake Zander finished 5th in a PR time of 1:55.25, and Alex Adkinson (so.-Whitewater) finished 6th in 1:55.70. Eric Knutson (fr.-Brookfield Central) and Tyler Hart (fr.-Sun Prairie) ran the first Steeplechase of their careers and did well finishing 4th and 7th overall with times of 10:02 and 10:17.

Here’s a link to the complete Platteville results:
http://www.uwecblugolds.com/stats/motr/2011/otr_uwp_040911.htm

Up next for the Blugolds is the Phil Esten Invite at UW-La Crosse this Friday. The following week the team will split up and go to two different meets: the Winona State Invite in Winona, MN and the Kansas Relays at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS.

REWIND

We made it. 6 games, in 3 days and with some unfortunate emotions, we made it to our day off. Whew. Its been a tough and trying 72 hours but the Blugolds have once again managed to rally and find a way to get things done. Let's take a look back...

Thursday presented us with our WIAC opener against Stout. With Stout being our I-94 rival, there was more at stake on the double header than just 2 wins. We managed to avenge our uncharacteristic 2009 performance at Stout by sweeping the Blue Devils and start off the season undefeated in conference.

The Blugolds were then put to the test. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Not only did we have classes as usual in the morning along with our rescheduled double header vs. Superior, but one of our teammates lost someone very dear to her heart. It was a loss that hit very close to home for many of us and we had to lean on each other for support. We had to rally together, find a way to start the healing process and dig deep to find the good of the situation. It was a tough and exhausting night to say the least.

Friday afternoon brought us all together once again. Before our pre-game warm up we all took a deep breath, tried to focus on the task at hand and find a way to get 2 wins against a Superior team that has played "spoiler" the last couple years. Not to mention, they have a very relaxed playing style. So, not only did we need to find the energy for ourselves, but we had to bring it for 2 teams.

We showed a lot of heart, getting through those two games with tough defense, pitching and clutch hitting to earn our second sweep of the season and remain undefeated in conference. And with everyone else in the conference sporting at least 1 loss in the WIAC, we were sitting pretty.

Now the true test. Central, IA, the 5th ranked team in the country, was our next opponent. It was our 5-6th games in 3 days, we were exhausted and considering the other circumstances, we had every reason to let these two games slide.

Game one was a battle. We lost to a very, very good team. Even though the score was 11-1, I personally felt like it was closer than the books portrayed. But never the less, our bats were silent, our defense was a little shaky and sometimes, good hitters will beat good pitching. That "blow out" gave us even more reason for us to let game 2 slip away...

Game two was different. We held Central's offense in check. Going into the bottom of the 6th we were down 5-2 and with two outs, we came to life. We had two runners on and we were at the top of the order. Harp walked, and Acker pinch hit and had a grrrrrreat at bat to give us back to back walks. Then it was go time! Sara Baum, Jess Freagon and I had back-to-back-to-back singles to bring the score to 8-5 going into the top of the 7th. Lauren Carlson came in to close the game and got 3 BIG outs to end Central's 23 game winning streak!

We made it. 5-1 in 3 days, a win against a top 5 team, and an undefeated conference record. We battled adversity and everything that was thrown our way. We could finally breathe in between the tears of joy and tears of loss. We grew as a team and as individuals this week. We grew as one single unit fighting for each other every step of the way. I'm so proud of this group of girls, our coaching staff, and our friends and family that help us get through each and every day. As Karen has said, "To be alive is power." Well I'm going to add to that....love is power. And with the love that we showed these last 72 hours, the sky is the limit for us. Remember ladies, God only gives us what he knows we can handle.

Until next time,

Em

Hellooooo WIAC

Who will win the Women's WIAC whilst winter went away and spring has sprung?

Okay, so I am just giddy that the snow has melted and that we can finally play outside.  The Blugolds are finally outdoors, wearing their cleats, and playing in the dirt...just in time for Conference play.

The Blugolds open the conference season against the WIAC today.  We will be heading to Menomonie, WI to face the UW-Stout Blue Devils in a double header at 4 and 6 pm.

We are hoping to continue on with victory, especially after our thrilling win over Luther on Sunday.  We are eager to get rolling into conference season, and will also be facing Central College (non-conference) and UW-Superior this weekend.

Let's take it to 'em, Blugolds.

- Karen Hansen, Student Manager

Softball Breaks into NFCA Poll

After splitting with fourth-ranked Luther College (Iowa) last weekend, the UW-Eau Claire softball team is now ranked at No. 25 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll.

Luther dropped to 11th in the week eight poll.

The Blugolds recently were ranked at No. 24 in the week six poll while they received votes in last week's poll.

View Complete Week 8 Poll

Women's Outdoor Track & Field Ranked Nationally

In the first USTFCCCA NCAA Division III top 25 national poll for the outdoor season, the UW-Eau Claire women are ranked 20th.

In the regional polls, the women are currently seventh while the men are eighth.

Week One National Poll

Week One Regional Poll

"Chase the Dream"

So I’ve decided to help my friend Karen out on the Blog front. After promising her on spring break that I’d write an entry, I’ve finally held up my end of the deal. And after losing draft one of the blog to a computer malfunction, here’s round two…

Karen has done a great job thus far keeping readers updated on games, stories and highlights so hopefully, I can offer a little different perspective.

I know its cliché, but it honestly feels like just yesterday that we began day one of practice. These last 16 games have flown by. They’ve presented themselves with plenty of challenges, excitement, pressure situations and of course, lots and lots of fun. Maybe it’s because a record of 12-4 is WAYYYYY better than our record of 4-11 at this time last year, but I’m convinced it’s more than a record that defines our team and the fun that we have.

The 2011 Blugolds have already proved to be way different than last year’s group. For one, we started this year off in the Rosemount dome instead of the beach in Florida. And since softball is a game of adaptations, it was only fitting that we start our year off having to adapt to a new playing surface and a few new rules. We were tested right away with St. Thomas and BV and started a new tradition of finding a way to win close games. At this point, our defense was struggling but our offense and pitching were on fire.

By the time we got to Arizona, we couldn’t keep our excitement in. Maintaining our focus was a test during practice, especially with the pigeon incident right before hand, but somehow we managed to get things accomplished. Overall, as a player, I was happy with our performance in the desert and could chat about the games in further detail but I’ll keep it to a final thought. Although I know we could’ve come home 10-0, there’s no doubt in my mind that those close games will continue to help us respond to future losses and with our tough WIAC conference.

Aside from testing our skills, the trip definitely tested our patience. As I’m sure our parents and coaches can attest to, having 20, 18+ year old girls together for about 24 hours a day for an entire week is no easy task. Add in the mix of coaches, parents, buses not arriving on time, 3 mini vans and coach’s “ghetto ride” for transport and you’re pretty much setting yourself up for chaos. Never the less, I’m proud to say that the trip went relatively glitch and drama free and we’re all still speaking to one another! …although I’m pretty sure this is the first year that someone voluntarily left Robin’s van J

When we got back, we found ourselves back in the gym…weird. Frustrating too, but we managed to find a way to continue to prepare for our “weather permitting” game against #4 ranked Luther. After yet another adaptation of having to travel to Iowa instead of a home opener on Gelein, we were prepared. We knew we had to bring our “A” game, but we also knew that they weren’t going to know what hit them once we arrived. Game one started with us coming out on fire scoring two runs and holding them scoreless in the first. In the 2^nd inning we found ourselves victim of the “one bad inning” that softball often presents and were in a 5-2 hole. A stellar performance by freshmen pitcher “Ruegy” kept our hopes alive but we couldn’t get the big hit and found ourselves with a tally in the loss column.

Game two was very similar in a lot of respects. We came out and scored right away as the visiting team and then after inning two, were down 5-1. But with some top notch pitcher defense, errorless defense by the rest of us, a homerun by Jess Freagon (my roommate!) and of course a huge GRAND SLAM by Nikki Bromelkamp (MY OTHER ROOMMATE!!!) and we were up 6-5 with 6 outs to go! After that, we couldn’t be stopped. Emma Wishau dominated the next 2 innings, giving up just two singles to a dominating Luther offense, and we had our 12^th win of the season. Easier said than done, I know. But there’s much more than we can take from that 2^nd game besides the win.

I want to reflect on the emotion after the Luther game. For those who know me, I’m usually not the most serious of people, but I am a very passionate person and every once in a while I have my moments. Yesterday’s win was one of those times where your personal performance or the score of the first game momentarily didn’t matter. We had just come from 4 runs down, against the #4 ranked team in the country, and we acted like it. Smiles were from ear to ear, hugs were all around and our sense of accomplishment and belief was sky high. We knew that we could do it, but we had just proved it. At that moment, looking around at my teammates, it made me realize once again why we all wear the uniform. You could see the unmistakable love and joy in our faces, the look in our eyes that explains why we take the field every day. We play the game we love, and we truly love the game we play.

Until next time,

Emily Muller-#20