Wisconsin-Superior captures first-ever UMAC Men's Indoor Track and Field title
DULUTH, Minn.---After day one of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships the University of Wisconsin-Superior established a sizable 76.5-point lead in the team standings and hoped to maintain that lead going into the final day.
Thanks to a handful of additional solid performances, the Yellowjackets held on to their lead and finished with 237.5 points to capture their first-ever UMAC men's indoor team championship Saturday afternoon.
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Final Results |
Championship Site |
For the first time in UMAC history, there is a different team claiming the title of "conference champion" for indoor track and field and the Yellowjackets ended the College of St.Scholastica's seven-year reign at the top of the conference.
The Yellowjackets kept on pace from day one thanks to title wins in the shot put, 800-meter dash and 4 x 400-meter relay to combine with Friday's standout performances.
Thomas Udenberg repeated as UMAC champion in the shot put with a mark of 15.43 meters (50-7.5) to add to the Yellowjackets' lead, while C.J. Pillath was second after winning the weight throw Friday.
Matt Swanson took the title in the 800-meter dash for the Yellowjackets to out run favorites Stefan Prince of Bethany Lutheran College and Wil Maki of the University of Northwestern. Swanson clocked a time of 1:58.67 in the victory.
The Yellowjackets swept the sprint relays with a winning time of 3:29.49 that was over seven s econds faster than the squad from Bethany Lutheran.
The University of Minnesota Morris placed second as a team with 120 points thanks to standout finishes from Justin Terry and Chalmer Combellick. Terry defended his titles in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events. He clocked a winning time of 7.10 in the 60-meter finals before racing to another win in the 200-meter with a time of 23.07.
Combellick jumped out to a sizable lead in the men's one mile race to kick off an exciting day and never looked back en route to his five-second win. The Cougars' distance star finished the race in 4:25.10.
Jacob Gallagher won his second event of the meet for St. Scholastica taking the 3,000-meter title with a time of 9:14.03 that was just four seconds ahead of Jordan Koski of Wisconsin-Superior.
Nicolas Bruss added to a much-improved team performance for Bethany Lutheran with a win in the triple jump. He recorded a jump of 12.97 meters (42-6.75) on his first attempt which was good enough for the win.
The final event win of the day went to rookie Wyatt Helgerson of St. Scholastica who took the pole vault crown with a jump of 3.85 meters (12-7.5).
Behind Minnesota Morris was St. Scholastica in third with 105 points, while Bethany Lutheran was fourth with 88 points. Northwestern finished fifth with 41.5 points followed by Crown College with 27 points and North Central University with 6 points.
2017 UMAC Championship site