SUPERIOR, Wis. – After Friday's performance, there was very little drama entering Saturday for the Yellowjacket men's track and field team.

The Yellowjackets opened up a massive lead Friday, winning seven of eight events and earning points in all eight events on day one of the 2024 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships. As a result, the Yellowjackets racked up 138.5 points, more than double the total of the 63 earned by second-place Martin Luther.
 
It would have been easy for the Yellowjackets to take their foot off the gas and cruise Saturday, but they did anything but that.

The Yellowjackets earned more than 100 points for the second day in a row, finishing the weekend with 245.5 points to win the program's eighth consecutive UMAC Indoor Track and Field Championship.

The meet ended up being a two-horse race, with Martin Luther placing second with 153 points. Minnesota Morris was a distant third with 79 points, while Crown (68.5 points) and Bethany Lutheran (49) rounded out the top five.
 
Just as it did Friday, the distance crew was impressive Saturday, nearly sweeping the top five places in the 3,000 meters. Michael Butterfield (Bovey, Minn./Greenway) earned his third individual title of the weekend, setting a new personal record and cruising to a 20-second win with a time of 8:54.10. David Collins (Ironwood, Mich./Luther L. Wright) was second in the race, coming in with a time of 9:14.83. Zach Reese (Zimmerman, Minn./Spectrum) (9:17.26) and Aidan Doherty (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose) (9:30.98) finished fourth and five, respectively.
 
The Yellowjackets enjoyed a lot of success in the field events. A day after winning the weight throw, senior Nate Ohman (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern) picked up his second conference title of the weekend, winning the shot put with a heave of 14.95 meters, putting his mark more than a meter further than the runner up. Cameron Wegner (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) also added a PR in the event, placing sixth with a mark of 11.70 meters.
 
Jason Thomas (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) continued his strong indoor season with a monster day in the pole vault. Thomas, who won the pole vault at last week's Gene Glader Classic, won the UMAC championship by clearing the bar at a height of 4.11 meters, establishing a new personal record.

Two Yellowjackets – Ben Babcock (Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area) and Wyatt Tischler set new personal records in the triple jump, with Babcock placing third and Tischler seventh.
 
Meet Notes

• Will Schorr (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) posted a season best and placed fourth in the 60-meter dash, coming in with a time of 7.15 seconds, placing fourth. Schorr also placed fourth in the 200-meter dash.
• Garrett Lynch (Portage, Wis./Portage) was the runner up in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.79 seconds, finishing .19 seconds behind the winner.
• After winning the 400-meter dash Friday, Ethan Westimayer (Laona, Wis./Laona) was the runner up in the 200-meter dash.
• Jordan Goldfine (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), Marshall Swanson (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) and Tischler all posted personal records in the 200-meter dash.
• Dylan Uitto (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) earned a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter run, coming in with a time of 2:03.64, a new personal record.
• The Yellowjacket 4-x-400-meter relay team was disqualified after an early cut in.
• For the day, the Yellowjackets set 16 personal records and posted four season bests.

Next up for the Yellowjackets is a trip to Ripon for the Ripon Final Qualifier. The multi events will begin Friday, followed by the full meet Saturday. Start times are 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.