2004 WIAC Men's Indoor Track & Field
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 23 - 29
Track
Mark LaLonde, Senior (Park Falls), of UW-Stevens Point
LaLonde provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships in the 1,500-meter run at the Pointer Invitational on February 28. He won the event in a time of 3:55.43 as the Pointers swept four of the top five positions in the race. The Pointers won the 10-team meet with 153.50 points.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Chad Robinson, Senior, Salem (Westosha Central)
UW-Platteville, Adam Christnovich, Senior, Neenah
UW-River Falls, Wees Kennedy, Senior, St. Paul, Minn. (Concordia Academy)

Field
Dan Schultz, Sophomore (Grafton), of UW-Platteville
Schultz established a new UW-Platteville record in winning the pole vault competition at the Karl Schlender Open in Whitewater on February 28. He vaulted 16-1 1/4, which also improved his NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Jazzman Hughes, Sophomore, Milwaukee (Marquette)
UW-River Falls, Lance Wiersma, Freshman, Black River Falls
UW-Stevens Point, Mark Wierzba, Senior, Rosholt

Week of Feb. 16 - 22
Track
Nate Olson, Sophomore (Stevens Point/SPASH), of UW-La Crosse
Olson won the 400-meter dash at the St. Olaf (Minn.) Tostrud Classic on February 21. His time of 48.04 is an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Division III Championships.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, David Cisewski, Senior, Stevens Point (SPASH)
UW-Platteville, Josh Placke, Junior, Cuba City
UW-River Falls, Cary Cardinal, Freshman, Amery
UW-Stevens Point, Andrew Schliepp, Senior, Redgranite (Wild Rose)
UW-Stout, Craig Kotsmith, Freshman, Foreston, Minn.

Field
Kevin Becker, Sophomore (Rochester, Minn./Mayo), of UW-La Crosse
Becker won the 35-pound weight throw at the UW-Stout Blue Devil Open on February 20. His throw of 63-9 1/2 was an automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Division III Championships. UW-La Crosse won the six-team meet with 174 points.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Tom Roszak, Junior, Greenfield
UW-Platteville, Adam Charnstrom, Junior, Burnsville, Minn. (Lakeville)
UW-River Falls, Dean Harder, Senior, Frederic
UW-Stout, Ryan Carpenter, Sophomore, Sauk City

Week of Feb. 9 - 15
Track
Andrew Rock, Senior (Stratford), of UW-La Crosse
Rock finished second in the 400-meter dash at the Iowa State Classic on February 14. His time of 45.82 is a UW-La Crosse and NCAA Division III record and automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Division III Championship. Rock's time is the fifth-fastest in the world this year and the third-fastest in the United States.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Adam Koger, Freshman, Eau Claire (Memorial)
UW-Oshkosh, Paul Brown, Junior, West Allis (Hale)
UW-Platteville, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Senior, Oak Creek
UW-River Falls, Ben Kirmse, Sophomore, Wild Rose
UW-Stevens Point, Curtis Johnson, Senior, DeForest
UW-Stout, Craig Kotsmith, Freshman, Foreston, Minn.
UW-Superior, Nathaniel Hargrove, Freshman, Minneapolis, Minn. (Southwest)

Field
Kevin Deering, Senior (East Troy/Mukwonago), of UW-Oshkosh
Deering won a pair of events at the UW-Whitewater Classic held February 13. He captured the high jump with a leap of 6-8 3/4 and the heptathlon with 5,102 points. His performance in the high jump surpassed the provisional qualifying standard for next month's NCAA Division III Championship, while his effort in the heptathlon set school and facility records. UW-Oshkosh placed third in the nine-team meet with 109 points.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Shaun Marek, Junior, Waunakee
UW-La Crosse, Phil Whitesitt, Senior, Brownsville, Minn. (Caledonia)
UW-Platteville, Dan Schultz, Sophomore, Grafton
UW-River Falls, Clint Christy, Freshman, Tomah
UW-Stevens Point, Peter Prusinski, Sophomore, Rib Lake
UW-Stout, Tony Fitts, Sophomore, Kewaskum
UW-Superior, Trevor Gross, Junior, Pierz, Minn.

Week of Feb. 2 - 8
Track
Matt Pagel, Sophomore (Oconto), of UW-La Crosse
Pagel won the 60-meter dash at the Minnesota State-Mankato Open with a time of 6.83. His time converts to 6.37 for the 55-meter dash, an NCAA Division III provisional qualifying time. Pagel's time of 6.37 is the fourth-fastest in school history and currently ranks first in NCAA Division III.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Brandon Lesky, Sophomore, Cudahy
UW-Platteville, Steve Ross, Senior, Franklin
UW-River Falls, Greg Greene, Freshman, Osceola
UW-Stevens Point, Andrew Schliepp, Senior, Redgranite (Wild Rose)
UW-Stout, Marvin Suttles, Freshman, Dallas, Ga. (East Paulding)
UW-Superior, Trevor Gross, Junior, Pierz, Minn.

Field
Hans Schmidt, Junior (Park Falls), of UW-La Crosse
Schmidt won the pole vault at the Minnesota State-Mankato Open with a school record mark of 17-9. His performance is second in NCAA Division III history and automatically qualifies him for the NCAA Division III Championships. The height currently ranks in the top 10 among all collegiate vaulters.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Steve Nowak, Sophomore, Casco (Luxemburg-Casco)
UW-Platteville, Dan Schultz, Sophomore, Grafton
UW-River Falls, Eric Olson, Sophomore, Shoreview, Minn. (Mounds View)
UW-Stevens Point, Sverre Sundgaard, Freshman, Cottage Grove, Minn. (Park)
UW-Stout, Ryan Carpenter, Sophomore, Sauk City

Week of Jan. 26 - Feb. 1
Track
David Cisewski, Senior (Stevens Point/SPASH), of UW-Oshkosh
Cisewski qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships by winning the 5,000-meter run in a triangular with North Central (Ill.) and UW-La Crosse on January 30. He won the event with a time of 14:32.80, nearly 24 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Erik Ferguson, Junior, Rochester, Minn. (Dover-Eyota)
UW-La Crosse, Matt Pagel, Sophomore, Oconto
UW-Platteville, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Senior, Oak Creek
UW-River Falls, Jason Quarford, Freshman, Rosemount, Minn.
UW-Stevens Point, Chad Ellis, Freshman, Clintonville
UW-Stout, Dave Hanson, Senior, Sun Prairie
UW-Superior, Trevor Gross, Junior, Pierz, Minn.

Field
Mark Wierbza, Senior (Rosholt), of UW-Stevens Point
Wierbza became the first Pointer to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships when he covered 18.57 meters in the 35-pound weight throw at the Pointer Invitational on January 31. His toss exceeded the automatic qualifying standard and helped the Pointers to a first-place finish in the five-team meet.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Nick Pergande, Sophomore, Waukesha (North)
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Jensen, Senior, Lake Geneva (Badger)
UW-Platteville, Dan Schultz, Sophomore, Grafton
UW-River Falls, Phil Richter, Freshman, Amery
UW-Stout, Joe Cook, Freshman, Star Prairie (Osceola)

Week of Jan. 19 - 25
Track
Andrew Rock, Senior (Stratford), of UW-La Crosse
Rock won the 600-meter dash at the University of Minnesota Gold Country Classic with a school record time of 1:18.53. He defeated seven NCAA Division I runners, including Adam Steele of Minnesota, who was ranked sixth in the world in the 400-meter dash last season.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, David Cisewski, Senior, Stevens Point
UW-Platteville, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Senior, Oak Creek
UW-River Falls, Andy Poterucha, Junior, Rochester, Minn. (Lourdes)
UW-Stevens Point, Curt Johnson, Senior, DeForest
UW-Stout, John Ullrich, Junior, Savage, Minn. (Burnsville)

Field
Nick Fix, Sophomore (Oconomowoc), of UW-Platteville
Fix claimed the top spot in the triple jump at the UW-Whitewater Invitational on January 24. He won the event with a leap of 14.05 meters. Fix also placed fourth in the long jump with a mark of 6.99 meters. Both of his performances provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Division III Championships.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Phil Whitesitt, Senior, Brownsville, Minn. (Caledonia)
UW-River Falls, Andy Poterucha, Junior, Rochester, Minn. (Lourdes)
UW-Stevens Point, Mitch Ellis, Freshman, Three Lakes
UW-Stout, Chad Kingsbury, Freshman, Menomonie

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