Blue Devil Report
Spring '98 In Review
If you were holding a sock hop this past spring, you would not have wanted to invite UW-Stout track members Jason Lehman (Sr., Bruce) and Katie Jacobson (Jr., Eau Claire). The duo spent the spring breaking records for the Blue Devil track teams and Lehman picked up a national championship in the shot put.
Elsewhere in Blue Devil sports, the fastpitch softball team for the first time ever won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) West Division title and the Blue Devil baseball team shattered another team stolen base record.
Men's Track and Field
Lehman had been billed as one of the top weight men in the country, and the 315-pounder who can still dunk a basketball, lived up to the billing when he captured the NCAA Division III shot put title, throwing the weight 55-feet, 3.50-inches in May.Lehman also qualified to the national meet in discus and the hammer throw. Lehman set school records in all three events, breaking his own records in the shot put (55-5.75) and discus (172-0.50) and setting a new mark in the hammer throw (174-7). Lehman also won the conference shot put and discus championships, where Stout placed fourth.
The Blue Devils qualified several performers to the nationals, including Jamie Buchholtz (Fr., Bloomer) in the pole vault, Corey O'Donnell (Sr., Chippewa Falls) in the discus, Paul Gilles (Sr., Plum City) and Tim Hamill (Jr., Brookfield) in the steeplechase, and Billy Busch (Jr., Dickeyville), Ryan Geier (Fr., McFarland), Chris Valois (Sr., Anoka, Minn) and John Boldt (Sr., Hartland) in the 4x400-meter relay.
Women's Track and Field
Jacobson established school records in the 800-meter run (2-minutes, 13.23-seconds) and the 1500-meter run (4:39.24). Jacobson qualified to the national meet in both events, but elected to run only the 1500 and did not place.At the conference meet, Jacobson placed second in the 1500 and third in the 800.
Katy Olsen (Jr., Rice Lake), who qualified to nationals in both the 3000-meter run and the 10,000-meter run, finished second at the conference meet in the 10,000 and third in the 3000. Olsen did not place at nationals.
Gretchen Sommerfeldt (Sr., Hartland) set a new school record in the javelin, tossing the spear 117-1 at the first outdoor meet.
Softball
The Blue Devil softball team, while posting a 21-20 overall record, went into their final conference series with UW-Eau Claire with a perfect 6-0 conference record. Because the Blugolds had a conference, all Stout had to do was split the series.The Blue Devils seemed to have the game firmly in hand with a 3-0 lead heading into the final inning, but two Stout errors allowed Eau Claire to knot the score.
Charysse Minder (Fr., Ellsworth) led off the bottom of the inning with a hard double to the fence, and Angie Pinnow (Fr., Bruce) drove in Minder with a double to the same gap. Stout dropped the second game, but won their first ever division crown with a 7-1 record.
Stout lived on the edge all season, playing in 17 one-run games throughout the season. And that is how the season ended, with Stout opening the conference tournament with a one-run win over UW-La Crosse, then followed that up with one run losses to UW-Stevens Point and Eau Claire.
Second baseman Cara Fenhouse (So., Superior) was named the West Division player of the year, and she was joined on the all-conference team by pitcher Carolyn Bare (Sr., Superior), Pinnow, catcher Deanna Johnson (Sr., Rochester, Minn) and Tanya Petrie (Jr., Menomonie). Fenhouse, Bare and Pinnow were named all-region.
Baseball
For the second straight season, the Blue Devil baseball team was a bunch of thieves, snapping a team record in stolen bases that they had set last season. Stout's latest group of speedy thieves carried away 83 stolen bases in 109 attempts.Leading the way for the Blue Devils was Tate Cummins (Jr., Austin, Minn) who matched a single season school record in stolen bases with 21 in 24 attempts. Ryan Hanson (Jr., Austin, Minn) was not far behind, picking up 16 stolen bases in 22 attempts.
Hanson carried the hot stick at the plate, hitting .413 and going 52-for-126. Troy Gustafson (Sr., Grand View) finished up a solid Blue Devil career, batting .396 and was named to his third consecutive all-conference team. Gustafson was also named to the all-region third team. In addition to starting every game at left field, Gustafson also made six appearances on the mound, picking up three saves and one win on his way to posting an earned run average of 1.23.
Joining Gustafson on the all-conference squad was Hanson and Andy Guden (So., Medford). All three performers were outfielders.
The Blue Devils finished the season at 19-19, 5-9 and in fifth place in the revamped WIAC. Stout started the season with a six game losing streak, then won 12 of their next 13 games before heading into the conference schedule.
Head coach Terry Petrie picked up his 500th career win when Stout downed UW-Superior, 12-0, on April 11 at Nelson Field.
For more details on UW-Stout athletics, check out the Blue Devil web page at: www.uwstout.edu/athletics