JS
Jake Schneider
  • Occupational Safety
  • Plymouth, Wis.

Plymouth's Schneider Earns Spot on 2018 UW-Whitewater Men's Track and Field Team

2018 Jan 12

Jake Schneider, a native of Plymouth, WI, and graduate of Plymouth High School, will compete for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's track and field team during the 2018 season, which begins this Saturday at the Karl Schlender Invitational in Whitewater.

Schneider, a sophomore at UW-Whitewater, is majoring in undeclared.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men's track and field team has placed among the top five at each of the last five NCAA Championship meets, and the team has its sights set on a sixth straight top-five finish and the program's first-ever national championship in 2018.

The Warhawks, who begin the indoor season this Saturday by hosting the Karl Schlender Invitational at Kachel Fieldhouse, finished third at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships and second at the national outdoor meet. The team also placed among the top three in the highly competitive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference during each season.

Head coach Mike Johnson enters his ninth season at the helm of the program. He has helped 51 different Warhawks achieve 60 All-America honors during his career.

Seniors Matt Green (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago), Brett Harms (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater), Robert Martin (Bangor, Wis./Bangor) and Parker Witt (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) will serve as captains for UW-Whitewater during the 2018 season.

Witt and Harms each return as All-Americans from a year ago.

Witt enjoyed one of the finest individual seasons of any athlete in program history in 2017. He was selected Division III Men's Outdoor National Track Athlete of the Year and Performer of the Meet at the NCAA Outdoor Championships by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association after winning the national title in the 200-meter dash, finishing as runner-up in the 100-meter dash and anchoring the 4x100-meter relay team to a third-place finish.

Witt, a second-year captain, is a nine-time All-American and five-time WIAC champion for his career. He was named WIAC Men's Track Indoor Performer of the Meet after sweeping the 60- and 200-meter dash events at the conference indoor meet.

Harms broke through with his first All-America medal at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships, placing fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He won the league title in the steeple and finished fifth in the 3,000-meter run at last year's WIAC Indoor Championships.

Green is a two-time WIAC runner-up in the triple jump who also placed eighth in the long jump last season. Martin, now in his second season as a captain, placed fifth in the 110-meter hurdles (outdoor) and eighth in the 60-meter hurdles (indoor) in 2017.

Sophomores Christian Jackson (Milwaukee, Wis./Wauwatosa West), Zach Jasinski (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton), Julio Perez (Watertown, Wis./Kettle Moraine) and Jake Schneider (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) return as national qualifiers from 2017.

After claiming the WIAC championship in the 60-meter hurdles, Jackson qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the event. He placed second in the conference in the 110-meter hurdles during the outdoor campaign.

Schneider placed fifth in the 200-meter hurdles and reached the national indoor meet, where he finished 10th. He finished seventh in the 200 at the WIAC Outdoor Championships.

Jasinski qualified in the pole vault during each season in 2017, placing 12th at the NCAA Indoor Championships and ninth at the outdoor meet. He finished sixth at the indoor conference meet and third at the outdoor championships.

Perez reached the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the shot put and discus. He finished third at the conference meet in both events before placing 14th in each event at the national championships.

Other returning conference placers include seniors Jason D'Amico, Alec Meixelsperger (Middleton, Wis./Middleton), Jonah Nelson (Dodgeville, Wis./Dodgeville/Mineral Point), junior Dylan Ferger (Beloit, Wis./Beloit Turner), sophomores Joe Labs (Pewaukee, Wis./Pewaukee) and Tanner Stephens (Nekoosa, Wis./Nekoosa).

D'Amico placed seventh in the indoor shot put, Meixelsperger finished sixth outdoors and eighth indoors in the 800-meter run, and Ferger was fifth outdoors and seventh indoors in the high jump.

Stephens placed fifth indoors and seventh outdoors in the triple jump, and Nelson was fifth in the 1,500-meter run (outdoor). Labs placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles (outdoor).

The Warhawks' entire distance medley relay team of Harms, Meixelsperger, Nelson and sophomore Alec Masters (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington) returns in 2018. The group placed fourth at the WIAC Indoor Championships last season.

UW-Whitewater is scheduled to host two other indoor meets in addition to Saturday's Karl Schlender Invitational. The annual "Squig" Converse Invitational is slated for Jan. 26, and the first-ever Midwest Invitational is scheduled for Feb. 10.

The Warhawks will also make trips to North Central (Ill.) on Jan. 19, UW-Stevens Point on Feb. 3 and UW-Oshkosh on Feb. 17 before the WIAC Indoor Championships, which are set for Feb. 23-24 at UW-Stevens Point.

UW-Whitewater will compete in last chance meets at UW-Platteville (March 2) and UW-Stevens Point (March 3) before heading to the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 9-10 in Birmingham, Ala.

The outdoor season begins at Augustana (Ill.) on March 24. The Warhawks will host the Rex Foster Twilight Invitational on April 6 and the Drake Alternative Meet on April 28. Between the two home meets, the team will travel to UW-Platteville on April 14 and back to Augustana on April 21.

The WIAC Outdoor Championships are slated for May 4-5 at UW-River Falls, and the NCAA Outdoor Championships are scheduled for May 24-26 at UW-La Crosse.