Monday, October 12, 2009

Weiland Takes A Stand At Al's Run

By all accounts, UWM assistant track & field coach Nate Weiland successfully defended his Al's Run title in Milwaukee on Saturday. But, he made a splash by evading the finish line and the volunteers holding the tape, then refused his award out of protest.

The race was covered by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, complete with quotes from Nate. The story is here.

An alum of the Milwaukee track and cross country program, Nate's protest was over the disqualification of the top two runners in the Lakefront Marathon the week prior.

Also running in the race was former Panther Holly Nearman, who took second. The 2008 women's champion, Nearman finished up her final year of eligibility in 2009.

Nate's winning time was 24:35, 43 seconds better than second place and 23 seconds better than his winning time last season (24:58). Holly, meanwhile, was just nine seconds off the winning time at 28:49 and nearly a minute better than last year (28:45).