Women's Championship Preview
For the past 31 seasons, UW-La Crosse and UW-Oshkosh have dominated the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship with the Eagles winning 21 titles and the Titans 10 trophies.
The 37th edition of the WIAC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship will run in conjunction with the 90th annual WIAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship Friday through Saturday (May 2-3) at UW-Eau Claire’s Simpson Field. The daily schedule begins at noon on Friday and 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
UW-La Crosse has claimed 23 conference crowns in program history and won last year’s event with 204.3 points, while UW-Oshkosh finished second with 163.
UW-River Falls matched the best finish in school archives with a third-place total of 121 points. Trailing the Falcons were fourth-place UW-Eau Claire with 110, fifth-place UW-Stevens Point with 89, sixth-place UW-Platteville with 64, seventh-place UW-Stout with 42.6, eighth-place UW-Whitewater with 42 and ninth-place UW-Superior with 22.
UW-La Crosse returns junior Katie Fondow who claimed the long jump crown a year ago and was a member of the winning 4x100-meter relay team. Fondow was joined on the relay squad by senior Krista Kopetsky and sophomores Ashton May and Sara Duchow.
Seniors Whitney Franklin and Katie Steingraeber participated on the first-place 4x100-meter relay and 4x400-meter relay squads, respectively in 2005.
Returning champions for UW-Oshkosh include senior Terri Schwamb and sophomore Amy Mleziva. Schwamb claimed the hammer throw with a meet-record toss of 192-4 a year ago, while Mleziva was a member of the victorious 4x400-meter relay squad.
UW-Platteville senior Marcia Taddy is one of the most decorated runners in conference history, securing a combined nine individual and relay titles during her career. She has won both the 800-meter run and 1,500-meter run championships three consecutive seasons and captured three straight 4x800-meter relay crowns.
Taddy has been named the Track Performer of the Meet three consecutive years and established a meet record in the 1,500-meter run during the 2006 championship with a time of 4:29.77.
Pioneer senior Lindsey Vick has joined Taddy on the winning 4x800-meter relay squad the last three seasons, while juniors Jessica Scott and Emma Dreis participated in 2007 and 2006, respectively.
UW-River Falls boasts four individuals that have combined to win five league championships. Senior Shannon Zweifel has secured two consecutive 400-meter hurdles titles, while junior Jessica Reed won the 100-meter hurdles a year ago.
Senior Krista Hasselquist was triumphant in the shot put in 2007, while senior Vicki Cooper secured the first-place medal in the javelin.
UW-Whitewater senior Jennifer Rogers claimed the 10,000-meter run crown last season, while sophomore Dana Thompson placed first in the discus.
UW-Eau Claire had a pair of individuals earn titles in 2006 with senior Molly Warner winning the 10,000-meter run and senior Liz Faller placing first in the 100-meter hurdles.
UW-Stevens Point senior Elizabeth Caine and UW-Stout sophomore Ashlea Peter took first in the 100-meter dash and triple jump, respectively, at last year’s championship, while UW-Superior senior Samantha Miller won the high jump in 2005.
