Led by discus throwers Shaun Davis (Edgerton/Edgerton) and Ben Stringer (Assumption, IL/Central A&M), UW-W is in second place after the second day of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship hosted by Marietta College at Don Drumm Stadium in Marietta, Ohio. UW-Whitewater's Championship Central site
UW-Whitewater has twenty points, with fellow Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member UW-Oshkosh leading with twenty-four. Four WIAC schools are among the top ten, and five in the top fifteen, to buttress the league's claims to Division III prominence.
Davis, a junior, finished second in the discus with his best mark of 165-4 (50.39m). Stringer, a sophomore, placed fifth at 163-6 (49.83m).
Davis and Stringer earn All-America honors by finishing among the top eight in their event. Davis also accomplished that feat by also placing second in the hammer throw Thursday.
The two athletes earning All-America honors in one event last occurred for UW-W in 2006, and it was also in the discus. That year Pete Ringquist finished second and Dan Hytinen, who would go on to win the next two NCAA III discus titles and set the D3 record, placed third. The last time that UW-W had one athlete, like Davis, earn two All-America honors in the same meet was 2002, when Pat Frascone placed eighth in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
Davis and Stringer continue a long line of nationally successful discus athletes at UW-W. The list includes Hytinen (first 2007 and 2008, third 2006, seventh 2005), Ringquist (second 2006, third 2004), Kurt Malnar (fourth 2001), Jim Beckman (fourth 1993 and 1994), and Andreas Klotz (second 1990 and fifth 1989).
Isiah Gray (Milwaukee/Brown Deer) and Matt Kovnesky (Fort Atkinson/Fort Atkinson) also competed for UW-W Friday. Gray, who finished fifth in the NCAA III indoor meet in the 400 meters, did not advance to the finals in the outdoor 400. He finished second in his heat Friday with a time of 48.18, tied for tenth with the top eight advancing. Hanneus Ollison of McMurry College (TX) turned in the fastest time, 47.57. Ollison is the defending champion and came in with the fastest time this season. Kovnesky finished fifth in his heat of the 800 in 1:52.88, fourteenth overall in the field. Defending NCAA III champion Emmanuel Bofa of Whitworth University (OR) led the field in to Saturday's final with a time of 1:50.71.
For additional information: Darren Schneider, UW-W coach
