SUPERIOR, Wis. – The UW-Superior men's track and field team holds a commanding 66-point lead after the first day of the 2022 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference indoor championships at Dr. Lydia C. Thering Fieldhouse on Friday.
 
Bolstered by individual event victories in the 5,000-meter run by senior Derrick Moe (Cloquet, Minn./Cloquet Senior) and the 400-meter dash by freshman Iain Matheson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), the Yellowjackets scored 116 points through eight scored events. 
 
UWS also claimed both relays contested on the day, the 4x200 and the distance-medley relay.
 
Moe posted a personal-record of 15:47.57 in the 5,000, outrunning the field by more than one minute. UWS went 1-2 in the 400 with Matheson running 51.46 to nip junior Steven Pearson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) for the title. Pearson clocked 53.45 to earn eight points. 
 
Superior runners also placed third, fifth, sixth and seventh in the 5,000 to grab points. Freshman Michael Butterfield (Bovey, Minn./Greenway) was third in 16:48.43, classmate Kieran Johnson (South Range, Wis./Northwestern) was fifth in 17:14.61, sophomore Kei Okamoto (Nagoya, Japan/Reitaku Mizunami) was sixth in17:26.29 and junior Mitchell Hammer (Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Lincoln) was seventh in 17:51.93.
 
The 4x200 squad of sophomore Ethan Westimayer (Laona, Wis./Laona), Pearson and freshmen Will Schorr (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) and Matheson won that event in 1:34.15 over Northwestern. The DMR team of Moe, senior Connor Nelson (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran), freshman David Collins (Ironwood, Mich./Luther L. Wright) and senior Tyler Finger (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville) beat second-place Crown by nearly 14 seconds in 11:17.61.
 
Elsewhere, Finger and Collins finished second and third, respectively, in the mile run in times of 4:28.57 and 4:35.20, with Collins' mark representing a personal record. 
 
Freshman Garrett Lynch (Portage, Wis./Portage) placed third in the high jump with a leap of 1.76 meters, bettering his personal best by one centimeter. 
 
Pearson, Schorr and Westimayer scored a total of 10 points in the long jump as Pearson took second (6.11 meters), Schorr sixth (5.93 meters) and Westimayer seventh (5.89 meters). Sophomore Earl Foster (Forest Lake, Minn./Spectrum) and Pearson also scored in the high jump. Foster was seventh at 1.66 meters while Pearson finished eighth with a height of 1.61 meters.
 
Finally, freshman Gage Stankiewicz (Esko, Minn./Esko) finished second in the weight throw with a distance of 15.77 meters. He led a group of three more Superior scorers in the event. Junior Nate Ohman (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) was fourth with a mark of 14.44 meters, senior Brock Phernetton (Frederic, Wis./Frederic) was fifth at 14.31 meters and classmate Tanner Lee (Siren, Wis./Siren) was fifth with 13.55 meters.
 
Second-place Northwestern has 50 points in the team standings, followed by Minnesota Morris (39) and Bethany Lutheran (45). Crown and North Central are tied for fifth with 27 points.
 
The final day of the championships begins at 11 a.m., on Saturday.