MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The UW-Stevens Point track & field teams had six athletes in six events qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships as announced by the NCAA Friday (May 17). The qualifiers include Ashley Bartelt (Hartford, Wis./Hartford Union), Austin Rennhack (Columbus, Wis./Columbus), Braedon Gilles (Middleton, Wis./Middleton), Casey Ploederl (Clintonville, Wis./Clintonville), Ian Lillquist (New Prague, Minn./New Prague) and Derek Penzkover (Rice Lake, Wis./Rice Lake).
 
NCAA Release
 
For the women, Bartelt posted a qualifying time in the 400-meter hurdles of 1:01.68 at the St. Francis Fighting Chance Invite (May 10) to finish 8^th in the country and first in the WIAC. Her time also broke the outdoor school record in the 400 hurdles which was previously tied by Bartelt in 2022 with Jacklyn Butler (2015-2017) each with the mark of 1:02.29.
 
For the men, Rennhack will make his first career appearance at NCAA Nationals after tallying his national qualifying time at the St. Norbert Invitational (Apr. 27) in the shot put with a season-best heave of 16.47 meters (54' 0.5"). This mark ranks him tied-19^th in the country and fourth in the WIAC heading into Nationals.
 
After finishing with All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships (Mar. 8-9), Gilles continued his rampage in the 800-meter run during the outdoor season working his way to a qualifying mark again in the 800 with a new career-best time of 1:49.37 at the Augustana Midwest Twilight (May 15). His qualifying time ranks him ninth in the nation and first in the conference.
 
Ploederl logged his NCAA Nationals qualifying time at the WIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 3) with a career-best mark of 2.06 meters (6' 9") in the high jump. His mark ranks him 16^th in the nation and fourth in the conference.
 
Lillquist will enter Nationals with the Pointers highest qualifying mark, ranking tied for eight in the nation and fourth in the conference. He registered his best mark of the season at the WIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 3) with a career-best jump of 14.86 meters (48' 9"), placing third.
 
Penzkover snuck into the qualifiers in the 1500-meter run after finishing 26^th in the nation and fifth in the conference. His qualifying time was registered at the WIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 3) where he finished fourth with a career-best time in the 1500 of 3:48.62. Penzkover is coming into his second appearance at nationals this season after earning All-America honors in the DMR during the indoor season.
 
The Pointers' qualifiers will travel to Myrtle Beach to compete at NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships starting Thursday (May 23).