Sophomore, Alexxa DeQuevedo
Photo by Holden Law
The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) indoor track season has wrapped up and concluded with the UW-Superior men’s team winning their fifth consecutive championship. The women’s team, meanwhile, finished sixth overall. With the conclusion of championships comes All-Conference hardware, including five individual winners and one relay team getting honored for their performance in the championship on the men’s team and two individual winners on the women’s team.
Three of the men’s seniors were named to the all-conference teams this year after their performance in the championship meet. Tyler Finger was one after clocking a first-place finish in the 800 meter and second place with a 4:38.95 mile run to bring home two All-UMAC mentions. Finger also was named the ‘Jackets representative to the sportsmanship team.
Brett Goplen finished with two all-conference nods for the second consecutive year. Setting his career bests at the UMAC championships last year, Goplen finished first in the high jump and second in the 60-meter hurdles. This year, he swapped places in his main events, finishing first in the 60-meter hurdles and second in the high jump.
Derrick Moe finished just behind his teammate Tyler Finger in the 800-meter run to take second and still receive All-UMAC recognition. This completed a one-two punch for the 800-meter run for the ‘Jackets and was a major boost for them in taking home the team championship honor.
Freshman Andrew Grabarkewitz was one of only two freshmen to win an individual event. Performing in the pole vault, Grabarkewitz vaulted up to 12 feet and 1.5 inches to take the first-place finish. Grabarkewitz gave a big boost to the Yellowjackets, also placing second in the 400-meter dash and third in the 200-meter dash. He scored a total of 24 points on the day to help lead the ‘Jackets to a 54 point victory.
The last of the individual All-Conference nominees went to weight thrower Tanner Lee who placed second with a 14.67 meter throw. Last year, Lee set a career-best at the championship with a 14.90 meter throw, also good enough for a second place finish.
The 4X200 relay team consisting of Steven Pearson, Mitchell Peterson, Lennon Shimon, and Ethan Westimayer also took home UMAC honors. With no seniors on the relay team, big things could be on the horizon for this team as the ‘Jackets look to defend their five-year streak.
The ‘Jackets men have been led to this five-year run of dominance by coach Glen Drexler, who has brought home the UMAC Coach of the Year award for the fifth time during the indoor season.
For the women’s team, two sophomores, Alexxa DeQuevedo and Kasha Hughlett, earned All-UMAC nods.
DeQuevedo finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.18 seconds. This is an improvement in position, despite running three tenths of a second slower than last year. DeQuevedo finished third with a time of 9.87 seconds at the 2019-20 championships.
Hughlett received recognition for her second-place finish in the weight throw. Her toss of 13.87 meters was a new personal best. This was an improvement of nearly a meter over her 12.97 meter toss last year.
Junior Nicole Koski was named as the Yellowjackets’ representative on the UMAC Sportsmanship team.
