Posted 10/13/07

Tyler Sigl won the individual title, and both UW-Platteville teams turned in top four finishes at the Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitationals Saturday, hosted by UW-La Crosse.

Sigl cruised to the title, covering the 8,000-meters in 24:55 to beat 409 other runners at the Maple Grove Country Club. He beat St. John's Chris Erichsen by six seconds for the win.

The eighth-ranked Pioneer men were third out of 25 schools in the Jim Drews race. Host UW-La Crosse won the meet with 75, followed by Iowa Central with 84 and UWP 112.

The women, ranked ninth in the lastest national poll, were fourth of 27 and second among NCAA III schools. The Minnesota Gophers won the women's race with 120, beating runner-up South Dakota State, who had 138. The Pioneers and UW-Eau Claire continued their season-long battle for Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference supremacy, with the Blugolds finishing third at 141 and the Pioneers fourth at 155.

Six other UWP men finished in the top 50, led by Jason Garvens, 23rd in 26:05; Nick Fulton, 26th in 26:09; Aaron Whalen, 30th in 26:14; Tony Kilburg, 32nd in 26:15; Patrick Klein, 46th in 26:39; and Austen Scudder, 49th in 26:43.

Jessia Scott led the women's effrorts with a 22:30 to place sixth among 455 runners in the 6K race. Alli Tank was 12th with 22:49, followed by Emma Dreis, 27th in 23:14; Lindsey Vick, 34th in 23:19; Eilene McGuine, 76th in 23:59, Hannah Klinger, 88th in 24:09; and Trista Baye, 99th in 24:20.

Some of the Pioneers will run in the UW-Oshkosh Invitational Friday afternoon (as the scheduled UWP home meet has been canceled). The WIAC championships are Oct. 27 in Oskosh.