Carius Gregory Invitational |
UW-La Crosse Eagle Open |
St. Francis Fighting Chance Meet
CHICAGO/LA CROSSE (May 13, 2022) - UW-Stout true freshman
Grant Magnuson not only broke the Blue Devil 800-meter record, he obliterated it at the Carius/Gregory Invitational Friday at North Central College.
Coming into the race, Magnuson's top time in the event was 1-minute, 53.59-seconds, just shy of the school record of 1:53.96 set by Matt Message in 2015, but he improved on that with a time of 1:50.70.
Magnuson was the only Blue Devil runner entered to compete at the North Central meet and he was in the fifth heat of 800 and was placed in the 11th spot for the 11-person heat. Fifty-two racers finished the event over the five heats.
Magnuson recorded a time of 54.38 after the first lap and was in seventh place at the split. Magnuson moved up two spots to claim a time of 1:50.70, more than three seconds over his previous best and wrote his name at the top of the Blue Devils all-time outdoor 800m list.
While Magnuson placed fifth in the event, he was only beaten by one Division III runner - Ben Kuxmann of Millikin University who recorded a time of 1:49.19. Kuxmann set a MIllikin school record as well and last season Kuxmann finished third at the NCAA Division III outdoor championship in the 800m. A runner from Division II Michigan Tech placed second and runners from NAIA Nebraska Wesleyan finished third and fourth.
Worth more than the finish, Magnuson's time put him into a much better position to qualify for the NCAA Division III Men's Track and Field Championship in two weeks. Coming into the meet Friday, Magnuson was well outside the time needed to qualify nationally. After Friday's meet, Magnuson jumped up to 11th nationally. There is still a week's worth of last chance meets remaining.
While Magnuson was competing at North Central College, members of the Blue Devil track and field teams were also competing at the UW-La Crosse Eagle Open and the University of Francis Fighting Chance Meet in Joliet, Ill.
At UW-La Crosse,
Hayden Wagner won the 400-meter hurdles with a career-best time of 53.51, beating UW-Oshkosh's John Ford who had edged Wagner for the conference 400-hurdle title May 7. Wagner is currently seeded 18th nationally.
The Blue Devils also got first place finishes at La Crosse from
Kaden Martin in the 110-high hurdles. The WIAC champion in the event, Martin clocked a time of 14.71-seconds.
Kevin Ruechel was first in the shot put (58-feet, 10-inches) and second in the discus (165-10).
Jacob Bugella was first in the hammer throw (197-4), six inches short of his season best.
Michael Volz took first in the javelin (158-3).
In the track events,
Jacob Oyen was 13th in the 400m (52.58),
Damon Zielke was fourth in the 5000m (17:34.00) and
Mason Barth was eighth in the 110-hurdles (15.64).
In the field events,
Jack Roeber was fourth in the long jump (21-10.25) and sixth in the havelin.
Jacob Tomazevic was 11th in the pole vault (13-5).
In the throws,
Logan Garski was seventh in the shot put (48-11.75) and seventh in the hammer (169-9);
Karter Rashke was ninth in the shot put (46-1.25);
Derek Millard was 17th in the shot put (40-4),2 23rd in the discus (115-8) and 24th in the hammer (130-1); Anthony Kuehl was 18th in the shot put (39-9.75), 13th in the discus (132-9) and 15th in the hammer (142-3);
John Nicpon was 23rd in the shot put (34-3.50), 26th in the discus (108-4) and 25th in the hammer (129-9);
Isaac Kraus was 14th in the discus (132-3);
Nate Karau was 15th in the discus (131-9) and 11th in the hammer (156-0); and
Connor Walechka was 20th in the hammer (137-8).
Distance runners competed at the Fighting Chance Meet at St. Francis Friday.
In the 1500-Meter Invitational,
Lance Pfrimmer finished 10th (3:52.08).
Spencer Schultz was 14th in the 5000-Meter Invitational (15:03.93) and
Matthew Ryan was 10th in the 5000-Meter Section A (15:14.27).
Ian Williams led seven Stout runners in the 5000-Meter Section B, placing fourth (15:28.03).
Christian Manthey was 12th (15:50.11),
Max Fore was 13th (15:51.65),
Cale Bishop was 14th (15:52.03),
Trevor Locke was 15th (15:55.11),
Calvin Fiala was 19th (16:09.57) and
Nels Trandahl was 23rd (16:23.43). In the 5000-Meter Section C,
Andrew Carlson was sixth (16:39.45),
Kade Sherry was ninth (16:48.61),
Matt Thomas was 10th (16:49.75) and
Max Bailey was 12th (17:19.05).
The Blue Devils will wrap up last chance meets next week when they could compete at North Central, May 16-17; St. Olaf, May 18-19; Augustana College, May 19; and at the UW-La Crosse Last Chance Qualifier, May 19.
