2007 WIAC Men's Indoor Track & Field
Athletes of the Week

Week of Feb. 12 - 18
Track
Matt Kramer, Junior (Cloquet, Minn.), of UW-Superior
Kramer provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship in the 800-meter run at the University of Minnesota Snowshoe Open on Feb. 16.  He finished in third place with a time of 1:54.01, which currently ranks him ninth in the nation and first in the conference in the event.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Nick Kropp, Freshman, Green Bay (Preble)
UW-La Crosse, Distance Medley Relay Team - Adam Kleinmaus, Junior, New Berlin (Waukesha Catholic Memorial) - Jonathan Otto, Senior, Milwaukee (Marquette) - Gabe Siehr, Senior, Manitowoc (Roncalli) - Paul Zdroik, Junior, Stevens Point (SPASH)
UW-Oshkosh, Nick Sydow, Sophomore, Marshfield (Columbus)
UW-Platteville, Ben Zizis, Junior, Cudahy
UW-River Falls, Jason Phillippi, Junior, Maplewood, Minn. (Tartan)
UW-Stevens Point, Distance Medley Relay Team - Travis Nechuta, Sophomore, Mosinee - Brad Koback, Sophomore, Amherst - Greg Haak, Junior, Belleville - Dominick Meyer, Junior, Beloit (Memorial)
UW-Stout, Derek Gonzenbach, Senior, Milbank, S.D.
UW-Whitewater, Eric Keen, Junior, Monroe

Field
Zach Johnson, Senior (Clintonville), of UW-Oshkosh
Johnson cleared a school-record height in the pole vault at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on Feb. 17.  He broke his own record in the event for the second time this season by leaping to a winning height of 16-6 3/4.  His performance surpassed the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Division III Championship.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Kirk Schmidt, Freshman, Athens
UW-La Crosse, Bobby Riley, Sophomore, Wittenberg (Wittenberg-Birnamwood)
UW-Platteville, Derek Shuda, Freshman, Mosinee
UW-River Falls, Clint Christy, Senior, Tomah
UW-Stevens Point, Kyle Steiner, Grafton
UW-Stout, Ryan Kawski, Senior, Stevens Point (SPASH)
UW-Whitewater, Dan Hytinen, Junior, South Milwaukee

Week of Feb. 5 - 11
Track
Tyler Sigl, Junior (Seymour), of UW-Platteville
Sigl finished second out of 61 runners in the 5,000-meter run at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 10.  He broke a school record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship with a time of 14:31.73.  He bettered his own school mark by more than eight seconds and beat the automatic qualifying standard by three seconds.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Wes Fischer, Sophomore, Rosemount, Minn.
UW-La Crosse, Kevin Oelstrom, Senior, Hales Corners (Whitnall)
UW-Oshkosh, A.J. Hollanquest, Junior, Wausau (East)
UW-River Falls, Jason Phillippi, Junior, Maplewood, Minn. (Tartan)
UW-Stevens Point, Nick Ver Duin, Junior, Howards Grove
UW-Superior, Matt Kramer, Junior, Cloquet, Minn.
UW-Whitewater, Brian Butzler, Sophomore, Beloit (Turner)

Field
Dan Herms, Senior (Green Bay/Preble), of UW-Whitewater
Herms won the long jump at the Warhawk Classic on Feb. 9 with a jump of 23-8.  His leap provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Division III Championship and is currently the best long jump in the nation.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Sam Johnson, Sophomore, Deer Park (Amery)
UW-La Crosse, Jessie Dengsavang, Sophomore, Milwaukee (West Allis Central)
UW-Oshkosh, Ben Zill, Freshman, New Franken (Green Bay Preble)
UW-Platteville, Brian Steingraber, Senior, New London
UW-Stevens Point, Kyle Steiner, Senior, Grafton
UW-Stout, Eric Cieslak, Freshman, Rochester, Minn. (Mayo)

Week of Jan. 29 - Feb. 4
Track
Tony Marcinek, Senior (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South), of UW-La Crosse
Marcinek earned two NCAA Division III provisional qualifying performances at the Minnesota State-Mankato Open on Feb. 3.  He won the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.36 and was a member of the Eagles’ winning 4x400-meter relay team which qualified with a time of 3:20.18.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Frankie Adams, Sophomore, Burnsville, Minn.
UW-Oshkosh, Nate Boehlke, Junior, Sugar Camp (Three Lakes)
UW-Platteville, Mike Mani, Senior, Mount Horeb
UW-Stevens Point, Adam Lang, Freshman, Sheboygan (Lutheran)
UW-Stout, Wendell Eskridge, Junior, Milwaukee (Custer)
UW-Whitewater, 4x400-meter relay team - Jon Otte, Senior, Plymouth - Mike Berendes, Sophomore, Hartland - Alek Konopacki, Sophomore, Madison - Eric Keen, Junior, Monroe

Field
Brandon Houle, Senior (Oshkosh/North), of UW-Oshkosh
Houle won both the shot put and 35-pound weight throw to lead the Titans to a first-place finish at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on Feb. 3.  Houle took first place in the shot put with a toss of 55-9 3/4 and the 35-pound weight throw with a cast of 64-11 1/2.  His effort in the 35-pound weight throw established UW-Oshkosh and Kolf Sports Center records.  Houle surpassed the automatic qualifying standard for the NCAA Division III Championship in both events.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Sam Johnson, Sophomore, Deer Park (Amery)
UW-La Crosse, Matt Novak, Senior, Schofield (D.C. Everest)
UW-Platteville, Tony Fontanini, Junior, Onalaska
UW-River Falls, Clint Christy, Senior, Tomah
UW-Stevens Point, Mark Cufaude, Freshman, Evansville
UW-Stout, Eric Cieslak, Freshman, Rochester, Minn.
UW-Whitewater, Dan Hytinen, Junior, South Milwaukee

Week of Jan. 22 - 28
Track
Brian Butzler, Sophomore (Beloit), of UW-Whitewater
Butzler won the mile run at the UW-Whitewater Invitational on Jan. 27 with a time of 4:14.23.  His time provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Division III Championship.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Ted Lillie, Junior, North St. Paul, Minn.
UW-La Crosse, Jamar Jackson, Freshman, Chicago Heights, Ill. (Bloom Township)
UW-Oshkosh, Chad Churchill, Freshman, Sheboygan (North)
UW-Platteville, Tyler Sigl, Junior, Seymour
UW-Superior, Matt Kramer, Junior, Cloquet, Minn.

Field
Zach Johnson, Senior (Clintonville), of UW-Oshkosh
Johnson won the pole vault at the UW-Oshkosh Quadrangular on Jan. 27.  He leaped to a school-record height of 16-6 in the event to automatically qualify for the NCAA Division III Championship.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Sam Johnson, Sophomore, Deer Park (Amery)
UW-La Crosse, Matt Novak, Senior, Schofield (D.C. Everest)
UW-Platteville, Tony Fontanini, Junior, Onalaska
UW-River Falls, Anthony Goeltz, Senior, Green Bay (Preble)
UW-Stevens Point, Pete Prusinski, Senior, Rib Lake
UW-Stout, Eric Cieslek, Freshman, Rochester, Minn.
UW-Whitewater, Dan Hyntinen, Junior, South Milwaukee

Week of Jan. 15 - 21
Track
Tyler Sigl, Junior (Seymour), of UW-Platteville
Sigl broke a UW-Platteville school record by winning the 3,000-meter race in 8:25.88 at the Platteville Open on Jan. 20.  He also established a new Williams Fieldhouse mark.  His time was almost 12 seconds faster than the winning mark in last spring’s WIAC championships and 19 seconds better than the 2005 winning time.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Wes Fischer, Sophomore, Rosemount, Minn.
UW-Superior, Matt Kramer, Junior, Cloquet, Minn.
UW-Whitewater, Jon Schellin, Junior, Columbus

Field
Kyle Ewing, Junior (Richland Center), of UW-Whitewater
Ewing won the long jump in UW-Whitewater’s The Hawk Meet on Jan. 19.  His mark of 23 2-1/2 surpassed the NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark.   Ewing also finished second in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.64.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Nick Desotelle, Sophomore, Weston (D.C. Everest)
UW-Platteville, Brian Steingraber, Senior, New London
UW-Stevens Point, Mitch Ellis, Junior, Three Lakes

Week of Jan. 8 - 14
Track
Derek Gonzenbach, Senior (Milbanks, S.D.), of UW-Stout
Gonzenbach finished second in the 400-meter dash at the Northwest Open at the University of Minnesota on Jan. 13.  He clocked a time of 50.37 in the event, which featured a field of 14 competitors.

Also nominated:
UW-Oshkosh, Brent Jude, Freshman, Milwaukee (Vincent)

Field
Brandon Houle, Senior (Oshkosh/North), of UW-Oshkosh
Houle won both the shot put and 35-pound weight throw as UW-Oshkosh opened its 2007 season with a 95.50-59.50 victory over Chicago (Ill.) on Jan. 13.  He surpassed the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA Division III Championship in both events by hurling to marks of 53-5 1/4 in the shot put and 59-2 3/4 in the 35-pound weight throw.

Also nominated:
UW-Eau Claire, Sam Johnson, Sophomore, Deer Park (Amery)

Back to the WIAC home page