Issued: May 7, 2004

JUMPERS LEAD TRACK IN FIRST DAY OF CHAMPIONSHIPS

EAU CLAIRE - UW-Eau Claire women's track and field athlete Ashley Nelson (Jr.-Darwin, MN/Litchfield) set a new facility record in the long jump as the Blugolds took the top three events in the competition while the Blugold men earned fifth and sixth place finishes in the long jump here today in the first day of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships held at Simpson Athletic Field.

The Blugold women currently sit in fourth place overall with 39 points. UW-Oshkosh is in first place with 64 points but UW-La Crosse is just one point back in second. UW-Stevens Point has 47 points for third place with the Blugolds rounding out the top four teams.

Nelson's jump of 5.82 meters (19-1 ¼) was a new Simpson record and automatically qualifies her for national competition while being just the second Blugold ever to win a conference championship in the long jump. The jump was just 1 ¾ inches off of the conference record. Erin Kokta (Jr.-Brookfield/East) provisionally qualified for nationals with a second place finish in the event. She posted a distance of 5.61 meters (18-5) while teammate Jen Stafslien (Jr.-Onalaska/West Salem) took third with a distance of 5.42 meters (17-9 ½). Nelson also performed well in the 100-meter dash, posting a time of 12.46 seconds in the preliminaries. The time was the second best on the day and qualifies her for tomorrow's finals. Stafslien competed in the prelims for the 100-meter hurdles and posted the third best time of the day, advancing her to tomorrow's finals.

Melissa Wright (Sr.-Appleton/Kimberly) set a personal record and automatically qualified for nationals with a second place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Trailing Ashleigh Potuznik of Stevens Point on the final stretch, Wright used a burst of speed to overtake the Pointer runner for second place, edging out Potuznik at the finish line. Julia Rudd of La Crosse won the event with a new conference record time of 10:40.57.

Betsy Kaminske (Fr.-Waupaca) took sixth place overall and provisionally qualified for nationals in the pole vault competition. She cleared a height of 3.32 meters (10-10 ¾).

Kristi Hansen (Jr.-Rosemount, MN) and Kallie Krueger (Sr.-Fall Creek) each advanced to the finals of the 400-meter dash while Laura Tamm (Sr.-Brillion) took seventh place in the javelin throw with a distance of 32.75 meters (107-5).

The Blugold men currently sit in sixth place overall with La Crosse in first place.

Eric Johnson (So.-Schofield/D.C. Everest) and Shaun Marek (Jr.-Waunakee) led the men with fifth and sixth place finishes in the long jump. Johnson earned fifth with a jump of 6.88 meters (22-7) while Marek took sixth with a distance of 6.77 meters (22-2 ½).

Andy Steuernagel (Sr.-Tomahawk) took fifth in the javelin throw with a distance of 50.11 meters (164-05) while Chris King (Jr.-Chippewa Falls) took sixth place in the hammer throw with a toss of 54.61 meters (179-2). Justin Wolfe (Jr.-Brodhead) took seventh in the pole vault with a height of 4.30 meters (14-1 ¼).

Jake Ebner (So.-Cameron) qualified for tomorrow's finals in the 800-meter run while Adam Sturgis (So.-Bruce) qualified in the 200-meter dash.

WIAC Championships Web Site