MORRIS, Minn. – The Yellowjacket men's track and field team returned to action Friday, looking to hang another banner, competing in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
 
It's been quite a run for the Yellowjacket men, as they have won six of the last seven UMAC outdoor titles, including each of the last two years. But the field in 2024 is as competitive as it has ever been in outdoor track and field, so the Yellowjackets are going to have a fight on their hands to win their third title in a row.

They got things off to a strong start on day one, finishing Friday with 115 points, which is good for first place when the day's events were completed. The Yellowjackets hold an 11-point lead over second-place Martin Luther, who has 104 points. Following the Yellowjackets and the Knights things drop off precipitously, with Crown sitting in third place with 53 points.
 
Minnesota Morris (36 points), Bethany Lutheran (19), North Central (12) and Northwestern (6) round out the rest of the field.
 
The Yellowjackets picked up three wins in the field events Friday.

Leading the way, as he has all season, was Nate Ohman (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern). The senior claimed the conference championship in the hammer throw with a heave of 49.13 meters. Ohman's mark was almost three meters longer than the runner-up.
 
The 'Jackets also got top-five finishes in the hammer from Carson Wilhorn (Necedah, Wis./Necedah) and Bo Waletzko (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), who placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Wilhorn had a throw of 43.33 meters, while Waletzko came in at 38.24 meters.
 
Earl Foster (Forest Lake, Minn./Spectrum) claimed a conference title in the javelin throw. His mark of 52.44 meters was 8.23 meters longer than the second-place thrower. The throw was short of Foster's personal record.
 
Garrett Lynch (Portage, Wis./Portage) finished in a tie for first place in the pole vault, clearing the bar at a height of 4.14 meters.
 
Shifting to the track, the Yellowjackets won the conference title in the 4-x-800-meter relay. The team made up of Dylan Uitto (Ashland, Wis./Ashland), Aidan Doherty (Wild Rose, Wis./Wild Rose), David Collins (Ironwood, Mich./Luther L. Wright) and Zach Reese (Zimmerman, Minn./Spectrum) finished with a time of 8:24.66, giving them the conference championship by more than 12 seconds.
 
Doherty and Uitto placed third and fifth, respectively, in the 800-meter run. Doherty clocked a time of 1:59.46, while Uitto finished right behind him in 2:00.48.
 
Keiran Johnson finished in fourth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Johnson's time of 10:34.50 established a new personal record.
 
Meet Notes

• Will Schorr (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), Edward Hakanson (Foxboro, Wis./Superior Senior) and Ethan Westimayer (Laona, Wis./Laona) placed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the 100-meter dash preliminaries. The finals will be held Saturday.
• Westimayer and Iain Matheson (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) were second and third in the 200-meter dash. Westimayer finished in 22.57 seconds, with Matheson coming in right behind him in 23.03 seconds.
• In addition to his javelin win, Foster placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.43 seconds. He was one of two runners to finish the race in under a minute.
• Jason Thomas (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior) placed third in the pole vault with a mark of 3.99 meters.
• Ben Babcock (Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area) narrowly missed a conference championship in the long jump. Babcock was the runner up with a mark of 6.38 meters, losing by .02 meters.

The Yellowjackets will conclude the UMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday. The first events begin at 10:30 a.m.