DULUTH, Minn. – The UW-Superior men's track and field team began the 2021-22 indoor season at The Opener, hosted by St. Scholastica at Burns Wellness Commons on Saturday. 
 
The Yellowjackets posted 13 top-five finishes in individual events on the day with freshman Michael Butterfield (Bovey, Minn./Greenway) winning the 5,000-meter run. Butterfield ran 16:49.67 for Superior only event victory of the meet.
 
Sophomore Mitchell Peterson (Foley, Minn./Foley) claimed two top-five finishes, running fifth overall in the 60-meter dash in 7.40 and posting a mark of 1.63 meters in the high jump, for fifth.
 
Sophomore Kei Okamoto (Nagoya, Japan/Reitaku Mizunami) led a group of three Yellowjackets in the top five of the 3,000-meter run. Okamoto finished in 10:28.50 in second place, followed by freshman Kieran Johnson (South Range, Wis./Northwestern) in 10:33.68 in fourth. Junior Connor Nelson (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) was fourth in 10:48.89. 
 
Freshman Gage Stankiewicz (Esko, Minn./Esko) was second in the shot put with a mark of 14.09 meters while junior Nate Ohman (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) was fourth with a toss of 13.22 meters.
 
Senior Brock Phernetton (Frederic, Wis./Frederic) was third in the weight throw with a mark of 13.71 meters.
 
Johnson and Butterfield were third and fourth, respectively, in the pole vault with leaps of 2.90 and 2.75 meters.
 
Steven Pearson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Iain Matheson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) were fourth and fifth in the long jump in 6.06 and 5.48 meters.
 
Next up, UWS heads to the Minnesota State Invitational on Jan. 14 at 2 p.m.