RS
Robert Starnes
  • physical education
  • Class of 2019
  • Green Bay, Wis.

UW-Whitewater's Starnes Earns All-America Honors at NCAA Track and Field Championships

2016 Mar 15

Robert Starnes, a native of Green Bay, WI, and member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater track and field program, was one of six Warhawks to garner All-America accolades over the weekend at the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.

The Warhawk men earned 49 points - their most ever at any national meet - and captured four individual NCAA titles, two more than at any other national championship in program history. UW-Whitewater's national second-place finish matched its best in program history (2004).

The women tied for 70th overall with one point.

Sophomore Robert Starnes (Green Bay, Wis./Preble) captured his second championship of the meet, winning the high jump with a school record tying leap of 7-00.25 (2.14 meters). He claimed the long jump title Friday with a result of 24-02.25 (7.37 meters), good for a personal best and a facility record. He bested runner-up James Wilson of Monmouth (Ill.) by more than one-half of a foot.

Sophomore Parker Witt (Appleton, Wis./North) picked up the 200-meter dash title with a school record time of 21.76. Earlier Saturday, he earned All-America accolades with a fifth-place finish in the 60-meter dash (6.88).

Sophomore Theron Baumann (Monona Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) out-threw a pair of Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes en route to the shot put title, breaking his own school record with a mark of 58-03.00 (17.75 meters).

Starnes captivated the crowd in the third national championship performance of his career, posting the winning jump - a facility record - on his second attempt. The now five-time All-American tried at a height of 7-03.75 (2.23 meters), but was unsuccessful in his attempt to break the NCAA Indoor Championship meet record.

Witt outran UW-La Crosse's Ernest Winters to the finish line in the 200 to give UW-Whitewater 10 more points. His result was also a facility record.

Baumann trailed conference rivals Alex Mess (UW-Eau Claire) and Zachary Baehman (UW-Oshkosh) heading into his second throw of the final round. His toss bested his own school record. Baumann is now a three-time All-American in the shot put.

Competing in his first NCAA meet, sophomore Cameron MaGee (Richland Center, Wis./Ithaca) tied for 10th in the high jump with a 6-06.25 (1.99 meters).

On Friday, junior Levi Perry (East Moline, Ill./United Township) and senior Zach Stockheimer (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the weight throw to earn All-America status.

Entering the meet with the No. 10 mark, Perry posted a personal record toss of 59-07.00 (18.16 meters) to earn three points for the Warhawks.

Stockheimer finished just behind Perry with a result of 59-05.00 (18.11 meters) to register two points for UW-Whitewater.

On the women's side, junior Amanda Strupp (Slinger, Wis./Slinger) claimed her first career All-America honor thanks to an eighth-place finish in the weight throw. She provided UW-Whitewater with one point on a toss of 56-08.00 (17.27 meters).

Starnes is majoring in communication at UW-Whitewater.