MORRIS, Minn. – Since joining the conference in 2015, the Yellowjacket men's track and field team has been a powerhouse in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC). Excluding 2020 when the outdoor track and field season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yellowjackets have won five out of six outdoor track and field championships going back to their entry in the UMAC.
 
Friday, the Yellowjackets kicked off their bid for championship No. 6, competing at the 2023 UMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by the University of Minnesota Morris. And after day one, the Yellowjackets are sitting right where they want to be.
 
With 116.5 points accumulated through the first nine events, the Yellowjackets are sitting in first place, with a 22.5 point lead over second-place Martin Luther. The Yellowjackets and Knights have made it a two-horse race after the first day, with the teams 30 points clear of third-place Minnesota Morris.
 
The Yellowjacket men earned in both track events and field events on the first day, helping to establish their lead.
 
On the track Ethan Westimayer (Laona, Wis./Laona) was victorious in the 200-meter dash, coming in with a time of 22.07 seconds. Westimayer was the runner-up in the 200 meters in both his freshman and sophomore seasons before earning the medal this year. The time also established a new personal record, bettering his previous top time by .22 seconds.
 
Westimayer also had a third-place finish in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash, coming in with a time of 11.27 seconds. Teammate Will Schorr (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) posted the top time in the 100-meter dash preliminary, finishing the race with a time of 10.90 seconds, bettering the second place runner by .22 seconds. The 100-meter final will take place Saturday afternoon.
 
Earl Foster (Forest Lake, Minn./Spectrum) brought home a championship in the 400-meter hurdles, coming in with a time of 57.45 seconds, crushing his previous personal best by 2.23 seconds.
 
Sophomore Michael Butterfield (Bovey, Minn./Greenway) finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, coming in with a time of 10:38.48. He was right in front of Kieran Johnson (South Range, Wis./Northwestern), who placed fourth with a time of 10:56.38. Johnson's mark was a personal record by over 12 seconds.
 
Other top-five finishes on the track came from Ethan Bowe (Chetek, Wis./Chetek-Weyerhaeuser) (fifth in the 100-meter preliminary), Steven Pearson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) (fourth in the 200 meters), David Collins (Ironwood, Mich./Luther L. Wright) (fourth in the 800 meters) and Aidan Doherty (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) (fifth in the 400 meters).
 
The 4-x-800-meter relay team of Zach Reese (Zimmerman, Minn./Spectrum), Doherty, Kei Okamoto (Nagoya, Japan/Reitaku Mizunami) and Collins placed third with a time of 8:40.82.
 
In the field events, Garrett Lynch (Portage, Wis./Portage), who has been dominant during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, came away with a pair of victories Friday. Lynch won the pole vault, clearing the bar at a height of 4.32 meters. It marked a personal record for Lynch, who bettered his old mark by .11 meters. Lynch was also the winner in the long jump, with a mark of 6.35 meters. This mark was also a personal record for Lynch, whose previous long jump best was 5.86 meters.
 
The Yellowjackets occupied all three spots in the long jump, with Ben Babcock (Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area) and Schorr placing second and third, respectively.
 
Senior thrower Nate Ohman (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) won a conference title in the hammer throw, winning with a heave of 47.54 meters.
 
Other top five finishes in the field events included Isaac Hanson (Hayward, Wis./Hayward) (fifth in the pole vault).
 
The Yellowjackets will compete in day two of the 2023 UMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday. The events are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.