With the WIAC Championships just a couple of weeks away, the UW-Platteville’s men’s and women’s track teams are trying hard to maintain the momentum they have going.

“We’re kind of right where we need to be,’ head coach Jim Nickasch said. “The men look really good for the conference meet because we’re a little bit deeper in some of the events this season.’

“For the women, our lack of depth hurts us a little bit, but in terms of individual performances, they’re right where they need to be as well.’

Over the weekend, the Pioneers traveled to Rock Island, Ill., for the Augustana Meet of Champions.

Minus a few key members of both teams, the women managed to capture a fourth place finish, retaining two event champions on April 18, while the men earned a fifth place finish the following day.

“We were not at full strength,’ Nickasch said. “Some people took some time off to rest as we approach the conference meet, but for the team that we had there, we did very well.’

Winning the 200-meter dash in 26.58, Liz Baker was victorious for the second week in a row. Ashleigh Waltz joined Baker atop the standings with her pole vault of 10-3.25.

Although the men’s team did not have any event champions, Ben Zizis’ run of 14.73 in the 110-meter hurdles and Corey Digman’s throw of 154-4 in the discus earned them both second place finishes.

The men were also happy to get production out of Matt Bischoff who finished third in the 200 and he was joined in third place by Spencer Hollis in the pole vault and Nick Fulton in the 10,000-meter run. Getting production from their team’s depth is what the Pioneers need to push themselves to the top of the WIAC and contend for a national title.

The women’s team also scored big in several events which helped propel them to their fourth place finish. UW-P scored three of the top six finishers in the 200-meter dash when Baker was joined by teammates Cassie Schneider who finished in fourth and fellow Pioneer Sarah Weisman who crossed the line in sixth. Another Pioneer scoring high was Eileen McGuire who finished in fifth place against a very fast heat in the 5,000-meter run.

While the majority of her team was in Illinois, Marcia Taddy was tearing it up at the Kansas Relays on April 19.

Taddy not only broke a UW-P school record with her NCAA Div. III national qualifying mark of 2:08.88 in the 800-meter race, but she became a Division I qualifier as well.

“Obviously that was pretty cool for her to place as well as she did,’ Nickasch said. “To be leading the country in terms of her 800 time and set a school record, that was a really good performance for her.’

With the season quickly drawing to a close, the Pioneers are working hard to stay healthy and qualify for conference and nationals.

So far, the Pioneers have accumulated 11 national qualifying marks. The men’s team has six provisional qualifiers while the women’s team has three. The two automatic qualifiers for nationals are Sigl in the 5,000 and Taddy in the 800.

For the upcoming Drake Relays, UW-P will send Sigl to participate in the 10,000-meter run and Kyle Stangel to run in the 1,500. The sprint medley team of Matt Bischoff, Mitch Spees, Adam Buss and either Pat or Cam Klein will also be going to Des Moines, Iowa, for the relays held on April 25 - 26.

The rest of the Pioneers will head to the home of the Titans for the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on Saturday, April 26.

“The meet in Oshkosh will be real good,’ Nickasch said. “There will be a lot of the conference teams there. At this point in the season, a lot of the schools are trying to position themselves to get into the conference meet.’

“It will be a good test to stack up against some conference schools this week, especially the week before conference,’ Brandon Maas said. “Although we don’t have some of our top guys, it will be good for the rest of us to see how we can do against some conference teams’ top guys.’

The meets this weekend will be the final ones before the Pioneers head to the WIAC Championships at UW-Eau Claire on May 2 - 3.

“I think we are all anticipating the conference meet, where most of us peak, and I know we have all the tools to surprise everybody, including ourselves,’ Baker said.

“The team has been trained well, and we are now at the point in the season that we need to just compete and reach the goals we have set as a team as well as individuals,’ Waltz said. “These next two weeks are important for those who are on the bubble of getting into conference, but as coach says, ‘It’s time to step up and get after it.”