MENOMONIE, Wis. – Saturday marked the second day of the 2024 Warren Bowlus Invite, hosted by UW-Stout. The opening day Friday featured just the multi events, and a pair of Yellowjackets, Garrett Lynch (Portage, Wis./Portage) and Earl Foster (Forest Lake, Minn./Spectrum) were among the competitors. They continued their work in the multis Saturday with the final three events, while the rest of the Yellowjacket men's track and field team joined them for the festivities at the UW-Stout Sports and Fitness Center.
 
The second day of the multis were tough for Lynch and Foster. Lynch pulled out of the meet following the pole vault and watched the remainder of the day from the sidelines. Foster earned enough points on the day to place ninth and put together his event marks to qualify for the conference meet.
 
As for the rest of the squad, he Yellowjackets faced a loaded field of competitors from around the region, but still turned in some strong performances and came home with more personal records.
 
Leading the way for the Yellowjackets was senior sprinter Ethan Westimayer (Laona, Wis./Laona), who brought home a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash, coming in with a time of 23.02 seconds.
 
In the distance events, David Collins (Ironwood, Mich./Luther L. Wright) placed ninth in the first heat of the 3,000-meter open, setting a personal record with a time of 9:01.05. In the second heat of the 3,000-meter open, the Yellowjackets placed four in the top ten, led by Kieran Johnson (South Range, Wis./Northwestern), who clocked a time of 9:46.91.
 
Moving to the field events, Ben Babcock (Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area) placed third in the long jump, coming in with a mark of 6.38 meters. In the throws, Nate Ohman (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) earned a pair of top-ten marks. In the shot put, Ohman placed fifth with a heave of 15.32 meters. He followed that with a 15.48 meter mark in the weight throw, which was good for sixth place.
 
Meet Notes

• Staying with the running events, Will Schorr (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) placed ninth in the 60-meter dash, while Dylan Uitto (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) earned a top-ten finish in the 800 meters. The time for Uitto was also a new personal record.
• In the second heat of the 3,000-meter open, Cale Newby (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) (sixth), Tyler Smith (Ironwood, Mich./Ironwood) (seventh) and Dominick Meisner (Bloomer, Wis./Bloomer) (ninth) all ranked in the top ten. Newby (9:57.99) and Smith (10:01.75) set new personal records.
• Jordan Goldfine (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) placed ninth in the long jump Saturday, registering a mark of 6.11 meters.
• The 4-x-400-meter relay team, consisting of Ethan Defoe, Bryce Boldt (Waupaca, Wis./Waupaca), Joel Thomas (Cardiff, Wales/Islwyn) and Goldfine, placed third Saturday with a time of 3:42.51, putting them just 13 seconds off the pace of the winners.
• The Yellowjacket men posted 21 personal records on the day.

The Yellowjackets will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 3, when they compete at the Lake Superior Challenge, hosted by St. Scholastica. The events will start 11:00 a.m. at the Burns Wellness Commons on the St. Scholastica campus.