On Saturday April 8, the University of Wisconsin La Crosse Men’s and Women’s Track and Field kicked off their outdoor meet of the season at Veterans Memorial Field with the Ashton May Invitational.

The women’s team came out on top against 13 teams with 132.0 points while the men’s team earned first against 15 teams with 131.0.

This meet is held in memory of former assistant women’s track and field coach and UW-L alumni, Ashton May.

May earned 10 NCAA Division III All-American awards and was a track and field letter winner four years at UWL. May graduated from UWL in 2010 with a degree in elementary education.

UW-L Senior Captain Elizabeth May, May’s sister, recalled, “Coming in as a freshmen…She really built up the excitement for me and to have this meet be in honor of her, it’s really big for me, personally, to compete and wear the jersey’s with her name on the back.”

“I have a ton of family that comes, so it’s really nice to have all that support. It’s just a way to remember her.”

“We’ve been training really hard the past few weeks and some people are feeling it, but we have great weather, a nice tailwind, and the first meet is always super exciting, so we have a definite edge.”

For the women’s team, there were two individual titles won. Senior Kendra Antony secured the shot put (44-6 ¼) and Senior Mallory Hall in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.96.

Eagles top-finishes included Junior Jenna Franzwa who took fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (14.80) and Junior Sadie Kroll in fourth for the 1,500-meter run (4:46.69).

In field events, Sophomore Rachel Zastrow placed second in pole vault (11-7 3/4) while in hammer throw, Freshman Pamela Gramer captured third (162-9) and Sophomore Betsy Schreier placed fourth in the triple jump (37-3)

In javelin throw, Senior Autumn Miller earned second (118-2) and Sophomore Kaitlyn Granude took third (114-0).

The 4×400-meter relay with Sophomore Amanda Walbrun, Sophomore Tore Washa, Freshman Sophie Klein and Hall came in second (3:58.02). The 4×100-meter relay with Senior Maggie Slatter, Senior Courtney Purcell, May and Sophomore Natalie Wissing finished in third (49.71).

The men’s team won three individual titles with Senior Ross Denman in the 200-meter dash (21.18), Senior Luke Rohlhoff in the 110-meter hurdles (14.78) and Junior Ernest Winters in the 100-meter dash (10.46).

Other Eagles with top-four finishes on the track included Junior Austin Bates who finished second in the 110-meter hurdles (14.83). Senior Damien Roers took third in the 5,000-meter run (15:39:56) and Senior Zak Wallenfang placed third in the 400-meter hurdles (55.85). Senior Ben Jordan secured fourth in the 200-meter dash (21.64). Senior Joe Koenecke took fourth in the 100-meter dash (10.79).

For men’s field events, Sophomore Jacob Tenus took second in long jump (22-5) and Freshman Samuel Sadowski placed third (21-7 ½ ). In javelin throw, Freshman Justin Donkin finished third (150-10) while Senior Cy Badertscher took third in triple jump (45-7).

Both the UW-L men’s and women’s teams will continue their hard work at the UW-Platteville Invitational on Friday, April 14.