A hall of fame career, team finishes and more

A hall-of-fame career, team finishes and more

UW-La Crosse head wrestling coach Dave Malecek has been named to the 2024 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III Hall of Fame class.

The honorees were officially inducted at the annual banquet in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, during the NWCA's Annual Convention in July.

Malecek completed his 18th season as UWL's head wrestling coach in 2023-24. He has led the Eagles to eight top-four finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships, including second place in 2008 and 2010. He has coached 13 NCAA Division III champions and had 68 wrestlers earn All-America honors.

Malecek has guided UWL to 13 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) titles, including eight consecutive. During his tenure, the team has won more than 80% of its overall duals in the WIAC.

Malecek has been named the WIAC Mertz Mortoreilli Coach of the Year seven times. He was voted the 2024 NWCA Division III Coach of the Year, the 2015 NCAA III Midwest Regional Coach of the Year, the 2010 D3wrestle.com Coach of the Year and the 2007 NCAA Rookie Coach of the Year.

A four-time NCAA Division Iqualifier at Northern Iowa University (1991-94), Malecek earned All-America accolades in 1994 with a fourth-place finish at 177 pounds. He served as the Panthers' team captain in 1993 and 1994 and earned his bachelor's (1994) and master's (2005) degrees rom Northern Iowa. He competed in the United States' Olympic Wrestling Trials in 1992 and 1996.

Former UWL head coaches Tim Fader (inducted in 2017) and Greg Lonning (2017), along with wrestlers Brandon Penzkover (2007), Jason Ott (2011), Ryan Allen (2013), Jeff O'Gara (2017), Dan Laurent (2020), Josh Chelf (2022) and Bebeto Yewah (2023) are also members of the NWCA Hall of Fame.

National championships highlight 2023-24 team finishes

In March, the men's track and field team claimed its 20th NCAA Division III Indoor Championship in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Just two months later, the team captured another national championship at the outdoor meet in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The twin titles were just the latest highlight from an incredible run for both the men's and women's track and field teams. In 2022-23, the women claimed both the indoor and outdoor championships, while the men claimed the indoor championship and finished second outdoors.

It was the first time in NCAA Division III history that one school claimed the same title for both the men and women in the same year. For their achievements, the teams were invited to celebrate College Athlete Day at the White House.

Two compete in U.S. Olympic Trials

One by land, and one by water.

UW-La Crosse was well represented at the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer, as junior Sam Blaskowski competed at the track and field trials in Eugene, Oregon, and assistant swimming and diving Coach Jack Englehardt competed at the swimming trials in Indianapolis.

Blaskowski competed in the 100- and 200-meter dash at this year's trials. He advanced to the semifinals in the 100-meter after a first-round time of 10.23 seconds. Blaskowski ran a 10.17 in the semifinals but failed to advance. He ran a 20.61 in the first round of the 200-meter.

Blaskowski, who won both the 60- and 200-meter dash at the 2024 NCAA III Indoor Championships in March, became just the fifth UWL men's track and field athlete to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials. He joins Terry Strouf (1992, shot put), Derek Toshner (2004, 400-meter hurdles), Hans Schmidt (2004, pole vault) and Andrew Rock (2004, 400-meter dash). Rock won a gold medal as a member of the U.S. 4x400-meter relay team in Athens.

Englehardt placed 44th in the 50-meter freestyle preliminaries at this year's swimming trials, finishing with a time of 22.78. He had qualified by posting a 22.44 in the opening leg of a 100-meter freestyle at the USA Swimming Speedo Championship Series at the University of Iowa Aquatic Center.

Englehardt completed his first season as an assistant coach at UWL in 2023-24. Previously, he was the head men's swimming coach at Madison West High School.

Alumna named director of Athletic Training Services

McKenzi Wermund was named UWL's director of Athletic Training Services after filling the role on an interim basis in 2023-24.

Wermund earned her bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science (athletic training) from UWL in 2016 and her master's degree in kinesiology from UW-Madison in 2018. She was a teaching assistant in UWL's Department of Exercise & Sport Science and UW-Madison's Department of Kinesiology. She completed an internship with Gundersen Health System in 2015.

Wermund is in her sixth year at UWL, serving as an athletic trainer I from 2018 to 2021 and as a staff athletic trainer from 2021 to 2023. She also served as a preceptor in the UWL undergraduate and master's Athletic Training Program.

Prior to returning to UWL, Wermund was the assistant health services supervisor/athletic trainer for UW Badger Sports Camps in summer 2019. She worked as an athletic trainer for SSM Health/St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo from 2016 to 2018, and for UW-Madison/University Health Services in 2017-18.

Wermund is a member of the National Athletic Trainers' Association, the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers Association and the Wisconsin Trainers Association.

As a student, Wermund was a member of the UWL Athletic Trainers Association, and served as historian and president of the UWL Chapter of the Iota Tau Alpha Honor Society.