2002 WIAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week

2002 WIAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field
Athletes of the Week

Week of April 22 - 28
Track
Matt Groose, Junior (Watertown), of UW-Oshkosh
Groose won the Invitational 800 meter run on Saturday (April 27) at the prestigious Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. He ran to a first-place time of 1:50.14 to outdistance a field of 11 invited participants. Finishing second to Groose with a time of 1:50.51 was defending champion Derrick Peterson of The Adidas Track Club. Peterson captured the 800-meter run title at the United States Indoor Track and Field Championship in March with a time of 1:46.60 and holds the American collegiate indoor record of 1:45.88, set at the 1999 NCAA Division I Track and Field Championship. Groose also bettered the winning 800 meter run time in the University and College Division at the Drake Relays. Ryan Huber of Indiana University won that race with a time of 1:51.68.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, John Tegtmeier, Freshman, Appleton (North)
UW-La Crosse, 4x100 Relay Team--Darrick Smith, Sophomore, Kenosha (Bradford); Andrew Rock, Sophomore, Stratford; Charlie Wittleder, Senior, St. Charles, Ill.; Dan Tutskey, Senior (Rock Island, Ill.)
UW-Platteville, Adam Christnovich, Junior, Neenah
UW-Stevens Point, Jesse LaLonde, Senior, Park Falls
UW-Stout, Jim Dvorak, Freshman, New Prague, Minn.

Field
John Schuna, Freshman (Hudson), of UW-Eau Claire
Schuna set a school record with a toss of 57-7 in the shot put to win that event at the Bulldog Open Friday. The throw is the best in the nation for Division III athletes this year and broke by nearly three feet the school record of 54-8 1/2 set by John Mago on April 16, 1986. Schuna also won the discus with a throw of 167-6, which is just short of Dan Schmidt's 10-year-old school record of 170-5.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Mike Turgeon, Sophomore, Perham, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Jensen, Sophomore, Lake Geneva (Badger)
UW-Platteville, Scott Ubert, Junior, Rolling Meadows, Ill.
UW-Stevens Point, Tom Rutowski, Senior, Greenfield

Week of April 15 - 21
Track
Derek Toshner, Sophomore (Campellsport), of UW-La Crosse
Toshner set a school record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship in the 400 hurdles at the Kansas Relays. He ran 52.01 in the preliminaries. The finals were rained out. Toshner broke the record of 52.02 set by Brian Emond in 1993.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Pat Seger, Junior, Oshkosh (North)
UW-Platteville, Steven Ross, Sophomore, Franklin
UW-Stevens Point, Kyle Newman, Senior, La Crosse
UW-Stout, Dave Huber, Senior, Mendota Heights, Minn. (Sibley)

Field
Mike Mead, Senior (Neenah), of UW-Stevens Point
Mead set a meet record and won the high jump by six inches at the Meet of Champions in Rock Island, Ill. He cleared 6-10 3/4 (2.10m) to automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Championship. Mead's jump tied his personal record and is the second-best high jump in school history.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Ben Stern, Senior, Melrose (Melrose-Mindoro)
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Jensen, Sophomore, Lake Geneva (Badger)
UW-Platteville, Adam Teunissen, Senior, Sheboygan (North)
UW-Stout, Lewis Casselius, Sophomore, Glenwood City

Week of April 8 - 14
Track
Matt Groose, Junior (Watertown), of UW-Oshkosh
Groose recorded the fastest outdoor 1,500-meter run time in the NCAA Division III this season by winning the event with a time of 3:49.89 at the Cardinal Classic held April 13 in Naperville, Ill. Groose, who won the race by nearly five seconds, also recorded the second-fastest time in school history with his performance.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Rich Maleniak, Senior, Madison (LaFollette)
UW-La Crosse, Phil Skiba, Sophomore, Wrightstown (Monroe)
UW-Platteville, Steven Ross, Sophomore, Franklin
UW-Stevens Point, Brad Seeley, Sophomore, Ringle (D.C. Everest)
UW-Stout, Dave Hanson, Junior, Sun Prairie

Field
Mike Turgeon, Sophomore (Perham, Minn.), of UW-La Crosse
Turgeon won the discus and hammer throw at the Phil Esten Challenge at La Crosse. He provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship in both events, throwing 164-0 in the discus and 169-7 in the hammer.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Jake Vande Hey, Senior, Appleton (Xavier)
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Jensen, Sophomore, Lake Geneva (Badger)
UW-Platteville, Andy Paulsen, Junior, Blue River (Riverdale)
UW-Stevens Point, Scott Dreger, Sophomore, Cambria
UW-Stout, Dan Austin, Freshman, Clintonville

Week of April 1 - 7
Track
Andrew Rock, Sophomore (Stratford), of UW-La Crosse
Rock won the 400-meter dash at the Northwest Missouri State Invitational. He automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship with a time of 47.14. Rock was also a member of the Eagles’ winning 1,600-meter relay team which automatically qualified at 3:12.94. The time was a meet record. The Eagles won the 16-team meet.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, John Brumund-Smith, Junior, Waunakee
UW-Oshkosh, Jon Zweiger, Sophomore, Oshkosh (Lourdes)
UW-Platteville, Ryan Kleimenhagen, Sophomore, Oak Creek
UW-Stevens Point, Kyle Newman, Senior, Holmen
UW-Stout, Dave Huber, Senior, Mendota Heights, Minn.

Field
Adam Teunissen, Senior (Sheboygan/North), of UW-Platteville
Teunissen won the pole vault at the Washington University Invitational in St. Louis. He provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship with a height of 15-5.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Glen Rogers, Senior, Mauston
UW-La Crosse, Phil Whitesitt, Sophomore, Brownsville, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh, Chris Jensen, Sophomore, Lake Geneva (Badger)
UW-Stevens Point, Noah Eschenbauch, Junior, Rosholt
UW-Stout, Jeff Rotering, Senior, Waumandee (Arcadia)

Week of March 25 - 31
Track
Mark LaLonde, Sophomore (Park Falls), of UW-Stevens Point
LaLonde provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship at the Big Cat Invitational in Memphis, Tenn. He finished the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:41.33.

Also nominated:
UW-La Crosse, Dan Tutskey, Senior, Rock Island, Ill.
UW-Superior, Erik Olson, Sophomore, Phillips

Field
Mike Turgeon, Sophomore (Perham, Minn.), of UW-La Crosse
Turgeon won the discus throw at the Augustana (Ill.)/UW-La Crosse Dual. He provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship with a distance of 166-6.

Also nominated:
UW-Stevens Point, Jeremiah Rolfs, Junior, Iola

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