2002 Men's Indoor Track & Field
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 18 - 24
Track
Rich Maleniak, Senior (Madison/La Follette), of UW-Eau Claire
Maleniak won the mile run in a field of 22 runners at the Pointer Open with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 4:12.9, which compared to the second-place time of 4:17.8.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, 4x400 Relay Team--Derek Toshner, Charlie Wittleder, Andrew Rock, Jesse Reed
UW-Oshkosh, John LeRoy, Sophomore, Oshkosh (North)
UW-Platteville, Distance Medley Relay Team--Adam Christnovich, Adam Sanders, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Mike Schmitz,
UW-Stevens Point, 4x400 Relay Team--Craig Gunderson, Matt Buska, Matthew Legel, Ben Treptow
UW-Stout, Dave Hanson, Junior, Sun Prairie

Field
John Schuna, Freshman (Hudson), of UW-Eau Claire
Schuna broke the school indoor record in the shot put with his second automatic qualifying distance of the season. His toss of 55-4 1/4 was a foot behind the winning effort of La Crosse's Jim Nelson, but nearly six feet beyond third place at the Blue Devil Invitational. Schuna broke Dan Schmidt's school mark of 54-7 1/2 set at the 1992 NCAA Division III Indoor Championship.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Jake Hines, Sophomore, Ellsworth
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Jensen, Sophomore, Lake Geneva (Badger)
UW-Platteville, Andy Paulsen, Junior, Blue River (Riverdale)
UW-Stevens Point, Ryan Shepard, Cornell

Week of Feb. 11 - 17
Track
David Cisewski, Sophomore (Stevens Point), of UW-Oshkosh
Competing at the Warhawk Classic on February 15 and the Stevens Point Invitational February 16, Cisewski was a part of two automatic qualifying performances for the NCAA Division III Championship. At the Whitewater Invitational, Cisewski won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:36.75. His performance in the event is the best in the WIAC this season and the fourth-best in the NCAA Division III. Cisewski also ran the first leg on a distance medley relay team that turned in a time of 10:03.48 at the Stevens Point Invitational.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, David Hanson, Junior, Osseo (Osseo-Fairchild)
UW-La Crosse, Andrew Rock, Sophomore, Stratford
UW-Platteville, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Sophomore, Oak Creek
UW-Stevens Point, Kyle Newman, La Crosse
UW-Stout, Jim Dvorak, Freshman, New Prague, Minn.

Field
Andy Basler, Senior (Mayville), of UW-La Crosse
Basler won the long jump with a personal-best of 24-2 1/2 at the Warhawk Classic. He automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship. Basler's mark is the second-best in the nation this season.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, John Schuna, Freshman, Hudson
UW-Oshkosh, Jon Wagner, Freshman, Delafield (Kettle Moraine)
UW-Platteville, Dan Kuehn, Junior, Waunakee
UW-Stevens Point, Paul Steffeck, Senior, Amherst
UW-Stout, Justin Zmyewski, Freshman, Houston, Minn. (Rushford-Peterson)

Week of Feb. 4 - 10
Track
Andrew Rock, Sophomore (Stratford), of UW-La Crosse
Rock won the 400-meter dash at the Warren Bowlus Invitational. He ran 48.52 to better his automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Division III Championship.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Rich Maleniak, Senior, Madison (LaFollette)
UW-Oshkosh, David Cisewski, Sophomore, Stevens Point
UW-Platteville, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Sophomore, Oak Creek
UW-Stevens Point, Jesse Baumann, Verona
UW-Stout, Dave Hanson, Sophomore, Sun Prairie

Field
Kent Hutchinson, (Green Bay), of UW-Stevens Point
Hutchinson won the triple jump at the Carthage/Pepsi Challenge on Saturday in Kenosha. His jump of 14.06 meters provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Division III Championship. Hutchinson also tied for third place in the high jump, clearing 1.88 meters.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Kurt Heilman, Junior, Kendall (Royall)
UW-La Crosse, Jake Hines, Sophomore, Ellsworth
UW-Oshkosh, John Wagner, Sophomore, Delafield (Kettle Moraine)
UW-Platteville, Mike Gratz, Senior, Monroe
UW-Stout, Justin Zmyewski, Freshman, Houston, Minn. (Rushford-Peterson)

Week of Jan. 28 - Feb. 3
Track
Matt Groose, Junior (Watertown), of UW-Oshkosh
Groose won the mile run to automatically qualify for next month’s NCAA Division III Indoor Championship as Oshkosh finished second in a triangular it hosted with North Central (Ill.) and Chicago (Ill.) on February 2. He won the mile run with a time of 4:08.42, setting a Kolf Sports Center record and recording the second-fastest time in the NCAA Division III this season.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Eric Jajtner, Freshman, Port Washington
UW-Platteville, Adam Christnovich, Junior, Neenah
UW-Stevens Point, Craig Gunderson, Waupaca
UW-Stout, John Hanson, Senior, Grantsburg

Field
Mike Turgeon, Sophomore (Perham, Minn.), of UW-La Crosse
Turgeon won the weight throw at the Don Bremer Classic as La Crosse won the four-team meet. He automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship with a throw of 62-10. The throw is also the best in Division III this year.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, John Schuna, Sophomore, Hudson
UW-Oshkosh, Kevin Deering, Sophomore, East Troy (Mukwonago)
UW-Platteville, Andy Paulsen, Junior, Blue River (Riverdale)
UW-Stevens Point, Luke Hilgers, Nekoosa
UW-Stout, Chad Sosalla, Sophomore, Whitehall

Week of Jan. 21 - 27
Track
Dan Tutskey, Senior (Rock Island, Ill.), of UW-La Crosse
Tutskey won the 55-meter dash at the La Crosse Quadrangular. He automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Indoor Championship with a time of 6.33. La Crosse won the meet with 274 points.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Rich Maleniak, Senior, Madison (LaFollette)
UW-Oshkosh, Matt Groose, Junior, Watertown
UW-Platteville, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Sophomore, Oak Creek
UW-Stevens Point, Mark LaLonde, Sophomore, Park Falls
UW-Stout, Brady Hurtgen, Freshman, Ridgeland (Prairie Farm)

Field
Noah Eschenbauch, Junior (Rosholt), of UW-Stevens Point
Eschenbauch qualified automatically for the NCAA Division III Championship in the 35-pound weight throw. His throw of 17.97 meters won the event at the Whitewater Invitational by nearly two meters.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Nick Dudycha, Sophomore, Frederic
UW-La Crosse, Ben Stern, Senior, Melrose (Melrose-Mindoro)
UW-Platteville, Mike Gratz, Senior, Monroe
UW-Stout, Chad Sosalla, Sophomore, Whitehall

Week of Jan. 14 - 20
Track
Andrew Rock, Sophomore (Stratford), of UW-La Crosse
Rock won the 400 meter dash at the Iowa Hawkeye Invitational January 19. He automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship with his time of 48.84.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, David Hanson, Junior, Osseo (Osseo-Fairchild)
UW-Stout, Dave Hanson, Junior, Sun Prairie

Field
Jeff Rotering, Senior (Waumandee/Arcadia), of UW-Stout
In the first meet of the year, Rotering has already earned a place at the NCAA Division III Championship by hitting an automatic qualifying height of 15-10 in the pole vault at the UW-Stout Quadrangular January 18. Rotering attempted to break the indoor school record of 16-2 by setting the bar at 16-3, but narrowly missed the mark.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Mike Turgeon, Sophomore, Perham, Minn.

Back to the WIAC home page