UMAC Indoor Championships

The University of Wisconsin Superior out-paced the field at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships turning a considerable lead after Friday's opening night to a dominating victory after Saturday's conclusion. UW-Superior finished with 237.5 team points, almost double second-place the University of Minnesota Morris at 120 points, and the hosts from the College of St. Scholastica at 105.

Senior Alex Fathie (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall H.S.) had the first championship performance of the weekend for UWS on Friday night, breaking the meet record in the 400-meter with a career-best time of 0:51.01. Fathie grabbed a second-place finish on Saturday with another PR, finishing at 0:23.11. The Yellowjacket relay teams also performed well on the track, with UWS claiming a first-place finish in both the 4-by-200-meter with a season-best time of 1:34.20 and 4-by-400-meter relay with a time of 3:29.49. The Yellowjacket distance medley relay team finished second on Friday with a time of 10:48.67. Junior Jordan Koski (Park Falls, Wis./Chequamegon H.S.) also finished second on night one in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:55.89, just ahead of freshman teammate Harrison Hirsch (Vadnais Heights, Minn./Mounds View H.S.) who finished at 16:18.79.

Koski would add a second no. 2 finish Saturday in the 3,000 meter run, finishing at 9:18.30. Senior Evan Walpole (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior H.S.) finished second in the mile run with a career-best time of 4:30.11. The mid-distance team got a first-place finish from sophomore Matt Swanson (Superior, Wis./Superior H.S.), who posted a personal record in the 800-meter run at 1:58.67. Senior Nate Welty (Rice, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice H.S.) earned a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, his first time competing in the event this season, at 0:10.84.

Unsurprisingly, UW-Superior looked its strongest in the weight throw as the Yellowjackets swept the first four positions on the podium. Sophomore C.J. Pillath (Coleman, Wis./Coleman H.S.) continued to dominate the event, finishing first with a toss of 16.32 meters. He was followed by seniors Tommy Fleming (Big Lake, Minn./Big Lake H.S.) and Thomas Udenberg (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet H.S.) who threw 16.12 meters and 14.68 meters for second and third, respectively. Sophomore Fauston Wirtz (Esko, Minn./Esko H.S.) finished fourth at 14.38 meters. In Saturday's shot put, Udenberg claimed the pole position with a toss of 15.43 meters, while Pillath finished second at 14.94 meters. Sophomore Alex Dzikonski (South Range, Wis./Superior H.S.) claimed another first place finish for UWS with a personal record leap of 6.35 meters in the long jump. Junior Henry Haberman matched his career best in the high jump, finishing second at 1.85 meters.

UP NEXT
UW-Superior athletes will look to qualify for NCAA Indoor Nationals at next week's Last Chance Qualifier hosted by the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point on Sunday, March 5. Action gets underway at 10:30 a.m.