Champion Yellowjackets, Pillath headline UMAC Men's Outdoor Track and Field honors
ST. PAUL, Minn.---The University of Wisconsin-Superior wrapped up a fourth-consecutive Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship title Saturday by a narrow margin and headline the postseason awards with nine student-athletes earning at least one all-conference honor and taking two of the top five awards announced Wednesday.
C.J. Pillath tallied three individual event wins to claim the Male Field Athlete of the Meet honor for the second-straight outdoor season and second in 2019 after earning the same accolade at the indoor meet in February. Glen Drexler picked up his fourth Coach of the Year honor in as many seasons. The remaining awards went to three different institutions as Easton Foss of runner-up College of St. Scholastica was tabbed the Track Athlete of the Meet. Evan Pruitt of the University of Northwestern earned the Top Scoring Athlete of the Meet distinction and Keegan Rich of Bethany Lutheran College was selected as the Rookie of the Year for the second time in 2019.
Pillath contributed 30 points to the Yellowjackets' 190 as he won all of the events in which he competed in. The senior set a meet record in the shot put with a winning mark of 15.75 meters (51-8.25) to highlight his weekend. He also grabbed a huge win in the hammer throw with a toss of 53.02 meters (174) that was 24.5 feet better than the runner-up in the event. Finally, he captured a win in the discus with a throw of 45.70 meters (149-11).
Drexler's Yellowjackets won by their narrowest margin in their four-year reign with just nine points worth of breathing room over the Saints. En route to the win, Drexler guided the Yellowjackets to six event wins including the 4 x 100-meter and 4 x 400-meter relays. Four individuals from the Yellowjackets were also all-conference – which is given to an individual who places first or second in an indvidual event and all members of a winning relay team – in at least two events including Cody Fernandez, Jonny Kasper, Pillath and Jake Weston. The Yellowjackets have now won every men's cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field title in the UMAC since winning the first at the 2016 UMAC outdoor meet.
On the track, the Saints got a ton of momentum from Foss who won two events and place third in another to help him capture the top track award. Fos led off the meet setting a meet record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a winning time of 9:35.53 that was nearly 20 seconds faster than the next finisher. He then won the 5,000-meter run crossing the finish line in 15:42.99. Foss finished the meet with 26 points for the Saints.
While Pillath and Foss put up impressive totals, Pruitt of Northwestern topped the list collecting 32 points and titles in the top sprint events. Pruitt outsprinted University of Minnesota Morris star Justin Peason in both the 100-meter (11.02) and 200-meter dash (22.45) events. His time in the 200-meter was just .02 ahead of Pearson. Additionally, Pruitt led Northwestern to a second-place finish in the 4 x 100-meter relay and took fourth in both the high jump and long.
Rich paced Bethany Lutheran claiming two event wins and totaling 29.25 of the Vikings' 64 points. Rich won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.11 seconds and claimed the triple jump title with a mark of 13.46 meters (44-2). The rookie standout also finished as runner-up in the long jump with a mark of 6.50 meters (21-4) and helped the Vikings to a fourth-place finish in the 4 x 100-meter relay.
In total there were 12 student-athletes who recorded all-conference finishes in at least two events including Ryan Anderson (Minnesota Morris), Ben Bitter (Martin Luther College), Fernandez, Foss, Kasper, Micah Otto (Martin Luther College), Pearson, Pillath, Pruitt, Ryan Steger (St. Scholastica) and Weston.
Wisconsin-Superior won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
Top Scoring Athlete of the Meet Award – Evan Pruitt, Jr., Northwestern
Track Athlete of the Meet Award – Easton Foss, Jr., St. Scholastica
Field Athlete of the Meet Award – C.J. Pillath, Sr., Wisconsin-Superior
Rookie of the Year Award – Keegan Rich, Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year Award – Glen Drexler, Wisconsin-Superior
UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
School |
Year |
Hometown/High School |
| Ryan Anderson |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Bellevue, Idaho/Wood River |
| Isaiah Arntson |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Proctor, Minn./Esko |
| Ben Bitter |
Martin Luther |
Jr. |
Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran |
| Matt Carlson |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Jr. |
Duluth, Minn./Hermantown |
| Nick Carlson |
St. Scholastica |
Fy. |
Canyon, Minn./South Ridge |
| Eddie Cease |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids |
| Frank Cerar |
St. Scholastica |
Sr. |
Plainview, Minn./Plainview-Elgin-Millville |
| Joe Chucka |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Sr. |
Couderay, Wis./Birchwood |
| Cody Fernandez |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Duluth, Minn./Proctor |
| Caleb Foelske |
Martin Luther |
Fy. |
Manitowoc, Wis/Manitowoc Lutheran |
| Easton Foss |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
Pine City, Minn./Pine City |
| Finigan Huffington |
St. Scholastica |
Fy. |
Georgetown, Cayman Islands/John Gray |
| Jonny Kasper |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Pierz, Minn./Pierz |
| Jeffrey McEarchern |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Rochester, Minn./Century |
| Jacob Melso |
Martin Luther |
Jr. |
Port Edwards, Wis./Luther Prep |
| Trent Merkins |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
Cottonwood, Minn./Lakeview |
| Micah Otto |
Martin Luther |
Fy. |
Mequon, Wis./Luther Prep |
| Justin Pearson |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Elk River, Minn./Elk River |
| C.J. Pillath |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Sr. |
Coleman, Wis./Coleman |
| Stefan Prince |
Bethany Lutheran |
Sr. |
Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake |
| Evan Pruitt |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
Temecula, Calif./Rancho Christian |
| Felipe Ramirez |
Northwestern |
So. |
Faribault, Minn. |
| Dakota Rice |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Jr. |
Upson, Wis./Hurley |
| Keegan Rich |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fy. |
Mount Pleasant, Iowa/Homeschool |
| Tyler Sassenberg |
Minnesota Morris |
Sr. |
Winthrop, Minn./Gibbon-Fairfax Winthrop |
| Lennon Shimon |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Albert Lea, Minn./Albert Lea |
| Andrew Stanek |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata |
| Ryan Steger |
St. Scholastica |
So. |
Eagan, Minn./Eagan |
| Christian Thielke |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Morris, Minn./Morris |
| Jake Weston |
Wisconsin-Superior |
So. |
Virginia, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert |
| Joshua Wordell |
Martin Luther |
Fy. |
Kenosha, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran |
UMAC Individual Event Champions
| Name |
Event(s) |
School |
Year |
Hometown/High School |
| Ryan Anderson |
1,500-meter Run, 4 x 800-meter Relay |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
Bellevue, Idaho/Wood River |
| Isaiah Arntson |
4 x 400-meter Relay |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Proctor, Minn./Esko |
| Matt Carlson |
4 x 400-meter Relay |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Jr. |
Duluth, Minn./Hermantown |
| Nick Carlson |
Long Jump |
St. Schoalstica |
Fy. |
Canyon, Minn./South Ridge |
| Eddie Cease |
4 x 800-meter Relay |
Minnesota Morris |
Jr. |
Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids |
| Frank Cerar |
Pole Vault |
St. Scholastica |
Sr. |
Plainview, Minn./Plainview-Elgin-Millville |
| Joe Chucka |
4 x 100-meter Relay |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Sr. |
Couderay, Wis./Birchwood |
| Cody Fernandez |
4 x 400-meter Relay |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Duluth, Minn./Proctor |
| Easton Foss |
3,000-meter Steeplechase,
5,000-meter Run |
St. Scholastica |
Jr. |
Pine City, Minn./Pine City |
| Jonny Kasper |
4 x 100-meter Relay, High Jump |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Pierz, Minn./Pierz |
| Micah Otto |
400-meter Hurdles |
Martin Luther |
Fy. |
Mequon, Wis./Luther Prep |
| C.J. Pillath |
Discus Throw, Hammer Throw,
Shot Put |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Sr. |
Coleman, Wis./Coleman |
| Evan Pruitt |
100-meter Dash, 200-meter Dash |
Northwestern |
Jr. |
Temecula, Calif./Rancho Christian |
| Keegan Rich |
110-meter Hurdles, Triple Jump |
Bethany Lutheran |
Fy |
Mount Pleasant, Iowa/Homeschool |
| Andrew Stanek |
4 x 800-meter Relay |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata |
| Lennon Shimon |
4 x 100-meter Relay |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Fy. |
Albert Lea, Minn./Albert Lea |
| Christian Thielke |
4 x 800-meter Relay |
Minnesota Morris |
So. |
Morris, Minn./Morris |
| Jake Weston |
4 x 100-meter Relay,
4 x 400-meter Relay |
Wisconsin-Superior |
So. |
Virginia, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert |
| Joshua Wordell |
Javelin |
Martin Luther |
Fy. |
Kenosha, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – Wisconsin-Superior
Bethany Lutheran – Stefan Prince, Sr., Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake
Crown – David Jones, So., Omaha, Neb.
Martin Luther– Ethan Carter, So., Eleva, Wis./Luther Prep
Minnesota-Morris – Jeffrey McEarchern, So., Rochester, Minn./Century
North Central – Tian Elder, Fy., Minneapolis, Minn./Hope Academy
Northwestern – Darrell Myles, So., Covington, La./Covington
St. Scholastica – Isaac Boedigheimer, So., Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet
Wisconsin-Superior – Eddie Carlson, Jr., South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul