2008 UW-La Crosse Women's Track & Field Outlook

La Crosse, Wis. – The 2008 UW-La Crosse women’s track team returns several NCAA III All-America student-athletes and qualifiers from last season as well as welcoming a talented group of newcomers. The Eagles, under the direction of 17th-year head coach Pat Healy, swept the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Indoor and Outdoor Championships a year ago. Healy was selected the WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year as well as being named the 2007 Midwest Region Coach of the Year.

UW-L returns 12 seniors and 18 juniors while mixing in 20 sophomores and 33 freshmen. The senior class includes distance runners Jenna Gerten, Kristen Howe and Emily Watson. Gerten and Howe were both members of the Eagles’ cross country team at the 2007 NCAA III Championships. Gerten placed 15th, Howe 23rd and Watson 28th at the 2007 WIAC Cross Country Championships.

Whitney Franklin, Krista Kopetsky, Stephanie Lasko and Katie Steingraeber will all compete in the sprint events in 2008. Franklin and Steingraeber were both members of the Eagles’ first-place 4x200-meter relay at last year’s WIAC Indoor Championships. Steingraeber was also on the 4x400 relay, which placed fifth at the national indoor meet. Kopetsky was on UW-L’s first-place 4x100-meter relay at the conference outdoor championships and fifth-place 4x100 relay at the national outdoor championships. She also was an NCAA III indoor qualifier in the long jump.

Abby Lien and Alecia Ellingstad will compete in the hurdles in 2008. Lien was a second-place finisher in the 400 hurdles at the WIAC Outdoor Championships last year. Ellingstad will also compete in the pole vault.

AnnMarie Glejf and Jessi Schulz will also see action in the jumping events. Glejf will compete in the pentathlon and heptathlon after finishing second in both events at the conference championships a year ago. Tina Schmidt is the lone senior competing in the throws in 2008.

In the junior class, Rachel DeDeyn, Amy Kempen, Maggie Leyendecker, Lauren Moss and Beth Richmond will all compete in the middle distance this season. Stephanie Perleberg competes in distance events in 2008.

Three juniors, Chris Claussen, Tiffany Ness and Jamie Scott will see action in the hurdles and pole vault. Scott was fifth in the pole vault at last year’s indoor national championships. Katie Fondow and Caitlin Schetter both compete in the jumps in 2008 and Fondow will run in the sprint events. She won the long jump at the 2007 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships as well as placing second in the triple jump at the outdoor meet. Fondow, who was also a member of UW-L’s first-place 4x100-meter relay at the outdoor conference championships last season, was third in the long jump at last season’s indoor national meet. She placed fourth in the long jump and seventh in the triple at the 2007 NCAA III Outdoor Championships. Schetter placed fifth in the triple jump and eighth in the long jump at last year’s indoor national championships. She was fifth in the long jump at the outdoor meet. Jenna Starck competes in the high jump in 2008.

Britni Osuldsen, Caitlin Perra, Danica Schaefer and Lauren Terry will all compete in the sprints as juniors. Perra and Schaefer were both members of UW-L’s fifth-place 4x400-meter relay at the 2007 NCAA III Indoor Championships.

Among the sophomores are middle distance runners Stephanie Carney, Meghan Dugan, Jessica Goessl, Michelle Horn and Megan Johnson. In the distance events, the Eagles will look to Caitlin Helgesen, Alison Kolinski, Kayla LaPorte, Whitney Nefstead and Katelyn Williams. Johnson finished 25th at the 2007 WIAC Cross Country Championships while also seeing action at the NCAA III Championships. Williams earned All-WIAC First Team honors last fall after a sixth-place finish at the conference meet. She was also the Eagles’ top runner at the 2007 NCAA III Championships, placing 55th overall.

Sara Duchow, Kaitlyn Joyce, Claire Kaufman, Ashton May and Samantha Morris will run sprints in 2008. Duchow earned NCAA III All-America honors in 2007 as a member of UW-L’s fifth-place 4x400-meter relay (indoor) and fifth-place 4x100 relay (outdoor). She was also on the Eagles’ winning 4x200 (indoor) and 4x100 (outdoor) relays. Joyce will also compete in the pole vault this season while May will see action in the long and triple jump. May was a national qualifier in the long jump at the 2007 NCAA III Indoor and Outdoor Championships. She placed second in the triple jump at the WIAC Indoor Championships. Along with the finishes in the jumping events, May was on UW-L’s fifth-place 4x100 relay at last year’s outdoor championships. She was also on the winning 4x100-meter relay and individually, placed second in the 100-meter dash at the 2007 WIAC Outdoor Championships.

Sara Mowchan will compete in the hurdles this year while Kaitlin Genthe sees action in the pole vault and Kayla Johnson in the high jump. Megan Nitka will compete in the multi events.

The Eagles welcome a talented and deep group of 33 freshmen in 2008.