The UW-Whitewater men's track and field team finished tied for ninth with Hamilton College at the 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Marietta, Ohio. The three day event concluded on Saturday, and although no Warhawk earned points on Saturday, the points accrued from Thursday and Friday was enough to earn them a ninth place finish. The UW-W men's track and field team has finished better four times prior to the 2009 finish (3rd in 2004 and 2006, 6th in 2007, and 8th in 2002). UW-W Championship Central website
Complete Men's Results
Marcus Smith (Milwaukee/West Allis Central) competed in the triple jump on the final day of competition and finished ninth in his flight with a jump of 46 feet and 6.75 inches. The distance was not long enough to qualify Smith for the finals. Smith, just a freshman, holds the UW-W school record in the event with a distance of 49 feet and 4.5 inches.
Earning points for the 'Hawks were Shaun Davis (Edgerton/Edgerton) (2nd in hammer and 2nd in discus) and Ben Stringer (Assumption, IL/Central A&M) (5th in discus). UW-W finished the meet with twenty total points. The winning team, UW-Oshkosh, finished with 46 points.
Davis and Stringer both earned All-America honors by finishing in the top eight of their events. The two athletes earning All-America honors in one event last occurred for UW-W in 2006, and it was also in the discus. That year Pete Ringquist finished second and Dan Hytinen, who would go on to win the next two NCAA III discus titles and set the D3 record, placed third. The last time that UW-W had one athlete, like Davis, earn two All-America honors in the same meet was 2002, when Pat Frascone placed eighth in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
Also competing for UW-Whitewater at the National meet were Isiah Gray (Milwaukee/Brown Deer) and Matt Kovnesky (Fort Atkinson/Fort Atkinson). Gray competed in the 400 meter run but did not advance out of the trials along with Kovnesky who competed in the 800 meter run and did not advance.
The conclusion of Saturday's 2009 NCAA Division III championship is the conclusion of competition for the UW-Whitewater men's track team this season.
For additional information:
Darren Schneider, UW-W head coach
