RIPON, Wis. – The Concordia University Wisconsin men's track & field team opened competition Friday at the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference Indoor Championships, hosted at Ripon College.
 
The Falcons scored 10 points across five events and sit in sixth place after day one. Milwaukee School of Engineering leads the team standings with 71 points.
 
Junior Zach Wendland (Green Bay, Wis.) highlighted the day with a strong start in the heptathlon, totaling 1,600 points through four events. The junior's top performance came in the high jump, where he cleared 1.97 meters to tie the program record set by Vincent Greefkes (2010). Freshman William Hemling (Beaver Dam, Wis.) also competed in the multi, sitting 12th after day one with 1,951 points. The freshman's best finish came in the 60-meter hurdles, placing fifth in 7.42.
 
Senior Brandon Donahue (Hubertus, Wis.) advanced to the 60-meter hurdles finals after posting a personal-best 8.89 in prelims.
 
The Falcons' distance medley relay freshmen quartet of Kaden Sanfellippo (Glendale, Wis.), Carter Bonlender (Eldorado, Wis.), Jackson Huebner (Watertown, Wis.), and Liam Wielert (Crown Point, Ind.) placed fourth to earn four team points, finishing in 11:04.26.
 
In distance action, junior Mason Everts (Saukville, Wis.) ran a season-best 16:43.82 in the 5,000 meters to place 12th.
 
Sophomore Lucas Mathes (Brillion, Wis.) added a point in the triple jump, finishing eighth with a mark of 13.31 meters.
 
In the weight throw, sophomore teammates Dawson Kolka (Sanford, Mich.) and Clayton Nichols (Okauchee, Wis.) finished back-to-back in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Kolka reached 13.60m in his second attempt, and Nichols earned a mark of 13.53m in his final attempt.
 
The heptathlon resumes Saturday at 9 a.m., followed by field events at 11 a.m. and running finals at 1 p.m.Bottom of Form