MORRIS, Minn. – The UW-Superior men's track and field team won one event outright and finished in a dead heat in another, highlighting its first day of competition in the 2019 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of the University of Minnesota Morris Friday.
 
Senior thrower C.J. Pillath (Coleman, Wis./Coleman) won the hammer throw and freshman sprinter Cody Fernandez (Duluth, Minn./Proctor) tied for first place in the 400-meter hurdles, taking second-place points. The Yellowjackets (93 points) lead in the team standings by 12 points over St. Scholastica (81) in the search for their fourth consecutive UMAC outdoor crown.
 
Pillath won the hammer with a toss of 53.04 meters (174 feet), nearly 7.5 meters further than the competition. Fernandez ran 59.88 in the 400 hurdles, tying with Martin Luther's Micah Otto. Rand Bieri (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet) was third in the event in 59.91 for six points.
 
Fauston Wirtz (Esko, Minn./Esko) and Brock Phernetton (Frederic, Wis./Frederic) also finished in scoring positions in the hammer throw. Wirtz was sixth with a toss of 40.50 meters (132 feet, 10 inches) and Phernetton was eighth at 38.99 meters (127 feet, 11 inches).
 
The 'Jackets scored 16 points in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Zach Mazurek (Bessemer, Mich./Bessemer) was third in 10:19.26, Henry Seeb (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) fourth in 10:31.47, Travis Gee (Minocqua, Wis./Lakeland Union) fifth in 10:34.47 and Connor Nelson (Rockford, Ill./Rockford) eighth in 11:47.63.
 
Dakota Rice (Upson, Wis./Hurley) and Tyler Kramer (Bancroft, Wis./Tri-County Area) earned a collective 13 points in the pole vault. Rice was second with a leap of 3.85 meters (12 feet, 7.5 inches) while Kramer placed fourth with a vault of 3.25 meters (10 feet, eight inches). 
 
UWS picked up 12 more points in the 800-meter run as Isaiah Arntson (Esko, Minn./Proctor) was third (2:00.58), Derrick Moe (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet) fifth (2:01.32) and Tyler Finger (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) seventh (2:03.51).
 
Lennon Shimon (Albert Lea, Minn/Albert Lea Senior) and Jake Weston (Eveleth, Minn./Eveleth-Gilbert Senior) finished fifth (23.33) and eighth (23.58), respectively, in the 200-meter dash. Jonny Kasper (Pierz, Minn./Healy) and Weston also scored in the long jump. Kasper's best leap of 5.98 meters (19 feet, 7.5 inches) was good for sixth while Weston was eighth in 5.93 meters (18 feet, 7.75 inches).
 
Joe Chucka (Couderay, Wis./Birchwood) and Matt Carlson (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) went 5-6 in the javelin throw in 40.74 meters (133 feet, eight inches) and 39.16 meters (128 feet, six inches).
 
Finally, the 4x800-meter relay squad of Moe, Finger, Arntson and Bieri was second in that race in 8:17.33.
 
Day two of the meet begins at 11 a.m., Saturday.