Cheers erupted at Williams Fieldhouse last weekend when senior Chas Spangenberg vaulted 16 feet 2 inches, breaking the previous university pole-vault record by a quarter of an inch and improving his ranking from fourth place to third on the nationals qualifying list.
Spangenberg’s vault was one of several record-breaking performances at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Invitational meet.
“It feels amazing to have broken the record, but the great thing about it is that it won’t last long,” Spangenberg said. “We have four hard-working and dedicated freshmen this year that are going to not only break this record, they will crush it.”
Spangenberg was referring to Andy Woerpel, Garrett Riggs, Marshall Trajkovski and Malachi Romportl.
Breaking his own school record of 6.93 seconds, Senior Aaron Hrubes won the 60 meter dash with a time of 6.88.
“Two weeks ago that only seemed like wishful thinking. It has been a real fight the last couple of years to get under 6.90,” Hrubes said. “It’s really great to see it all come together in my senior year.”
Hrubes’ performance guarantees him a spot at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championship March 8 in Naperville, Ill.
Pioneer women athletes claimed their share of victories, highlighted by senior Deidre Dillman’s season-best 800-meter time of 2:12:24. Dillman crossed the finish line twelve seconds ahead of the second place runner.
Freshman Kiera Depies won the 5000-meter with a time of 19:05. Depies said she was happy with her win but has her sights set on breaking 19 minutes in the 5k at the conference meet in two weeks.
In the field events, senior Jake Wiederholt celebrated his best throws of the season in both the shot-put and weight throw. Wiederholt took first place in the shot-put with a 15.66m throw, earning him a no. 24 ranking in NCAA Division III.
Last season, Wiederholt missed qualifying for the national competition by one place. Intent on making the national competition level, Wiederholt delayed graduation last spring to take advantage of his remaining year of track and field eligibility.
Wiederholt said he hopes his recent performances will lead to a spot at the national competition.
“This is my last athletic opportunity to do something notable,” Wiederholt said.
During Weiderholt’s final year of Pioneer football eligibility in 2011, he made First Team All-Conference and was selected as a team captain.
Wiederholt graduated from Fennimore High School in 2008 and decided to attend UW-Platteville after Pioneer Track and Field head coach Chris Rotzenberg and football coach Ryan Munz recruited him to the Pioneer athletic program. Wiederholt abandoned track and field his freshman year after deciding to concentrate on football.
After realizing how much he missed competing in shot-put and weight throw, Wiederholt joined the Pioneer Track and Field team his sophomore year.
“In team sports, success depends on other people,” Wiederholt said. “In track and field, you’re out there all by yourself. You have to be able to look inside yourself during a down-streak and focus on your own improvement.”
Wiederholt measures his progress in the shot put and weight throw in centimeters.
“Progress is all about technique and placing trust in your coaches,” Wiederholt said. “It’s easy to get discouraged; the key to success is staying mentally strong.”
Wiederholt said it also helps to have his parents cheering him on. Jack and JoAnn Wiederholt have not missed one of their son’s college athletic performances.
