Last Saturday, many members of the UW-Platteville Track and Field team were on a cruise of the Aegean Sea, part of a 10-day trip to Greece. Just one week later, they were in the same boat as six other schools as they opened the 2008 season with the Impact Sports/Nike Platteville Open in Williams Fieldhouse.
"It was a nice opener for us," Coach Jim Nickasch said. "Size-wise, this meet was appropriate for starters and for where we are at this point in the season. It was nice to have UW-Whitewater here to add some competition in most events. Overall, it was a nice start."
The Pioneers won eight events, with five coming on the men's side. Cody Egan won the 200-meter dash in 23:46; Adam Schulte took the 400-meter dash in 51:57; Aaron Whalen captured the mile run in 4:26.3; Corey Digman finished first in the shot put at 47-11.75; and the 200-meter relay team won in 1:34.4.
For the women, Emma Dreis won the one-mile run in 5:19.0; the 200-meter relay team won in 1:51.1, and the 400-meter relay squad won in 4:12.7.
"I thought we did OK, but I thought we were a little ahead of what we showed today," Nickasch said. "Part of that is we haven't really had an opportunity to do a lot yet. Some of the kids were talking that they're still tired, so they will be a little lag time here, but we understand that."
The Greece trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the coach said.
"All the kids who went are really talking it up and had a good time," he said. "It was a great experience. We talked to some recruits and told them we just got back from Greece and they're like 'what? from where?' "
The Pioneers are coming off outstanding 2007 campaigns, with the men placing fourth in the NCAA Outdoor National Championships, and the women fifth at the NCAA III Indoor nationals.
"We're definitely going in the right direction," Nickasch said. "It will be an interesting year."
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