VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (www.bluoglds.com) – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire men's and women's track & field teams concluded their indoor seasons on Saturday at day two of the NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Championships. An exciting day of finals saw plenty of Blugolds on the podium as the men finished 2^nd overall with 52 points and the women tied for 44^th with four points. Yakob Ekoue (Sr. – Hopkins, Minn.) and Mitch Stegeman (Sr. – Coleman, Wis./Suring) were crowned National Champions in the shot-put and heptathlon, respectively, as nine other Blugolds found their way onto the podium.
 
The Blugold throwers started day two of the championships with authority as the three UWEC competitors placed in the top-5 of the field of 20. Leading the way was Yakob Ekoue (Sr. – Hopkins, Minn.) who claimed his first indoor shot-put national championship and Eau Claire's ninth shot put title since 2015. Ekoue's throw of 18.70m ranks as the 3^rd longest in UW-Eau Claire history. Following close behind the champ was Adam Strouf (Sr. – Rice Lake, Wis.) who placed 4^th during his first trip to nationals with the Blugolds. Strouf's throw of 17.78m was followed close by fellow Blugold, Gage Stankiewicz (Jr. – Esko, Minn.) who placed 5^th with a personal best 17.50m.
 
With just three events left during the heptathlon, Mitch Stegeman left it all on the track and the field as he set a personal record with 5434 total points and was crowned the national champion. As he tied the program's third highest total and the NCAA Division III fifth highest score, Stegeman finished the day with a first-place finish in the pole vault, a second-place finish in the 1000m race, and a fourth-place finish in the 60m hurdles. Max Foland (Jr. – Middleton, Wis.) also finished the weekend strong with his first podium finish at nationals with 5039 points. Foland also held a terrific day two with one top-5 finish and two top-10 finishes in the final three events.
 
As the point totals continued to increase, Wes Keller (Jr. – Richland Center, Wis.) made sure he left his for Eau Claire as he tied for third place during the high jump. Keller's finish at 2.04m added five points to the total team score as UWEC continued their drive in the top-3 overall. Following Keller, Mason Shea (Sr. – River Falls, Wis.) added one point to the team's score with an 8^th place finish during the one-mile run. Shea's time of 4:08.01 was a personal best and was just 0.1 seconds shy of 7^th place.
 
Sam Verkerke (Jr. – White Bear Lake, Minn.) kept the Blugolds in contention during the 800m race as he placed second after a photo finish. Verkerke recorded a personal best time at 1:50.59 and was just behind the top finisher by 0.03 seconds. The close finish added eight points to UWEC's total to secure them a top-3 finish with one event remaining.
 
The men's 4x400m relay capped off a secured the second-place team finish for UWEC as Sam Schreiber (Jr. – Kimberly, Wis.), Colin McClowry (Jr. – Neenah, Wis.), Kevin Eisenzimmer (Sr. – Mineral Point, Wis.), and Josiah Ziebell (Sr. – Mauston, Wis.) placed 6^th with a time of 3:15.10. The three points earned by the relay squad pushed UWEC to 52 points past UW-Oshkosh with 51 to claim National Runner-Up status. For the men, it is their fifth time earning a top-3 finish in the last 10 years and third time placing second.
 
On the women's side, Kayla Benhke (Jr. – Appleton, Wis.) was the lone Blugold in action on day two. Behnke finished her strong weekend with a 12^th place finish during the shot-put with a throw of 13.54m.
 
The Blugolds will take some time away before turning their focus to the 2024 Outdoor season. UWEC kicks things off on Saturday, April 6^th when they travel to UW-La Crosse for the Ashton May Invitational. First events are set to begin at 2 p.m.
 
Follow the Blugolds all season long at Blugolds.com or on our app, Blugold Sports.