The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse won its fourth consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) men’s cross country championship at Winneconne's Lake Breeze Golf Club on Saturday (Oct. 27).

The conference title is the 29th in program history for the Eagles, who registered 40 team points to win this year’s event. UW-Platteville and UW-Stevens Point tied for second with 65 points, followed by UW-Whitewater in fourth with 139, UW-Oshkosh fifth with 150, UW-Eau Claire sixth with 177, UW-Stout seventh with 189, UW-Superior eighth with 204 and UW-River Falls ninth with 219.

Individually, UW-Platteville senior Tyler Sigl earned a chunk of WIAC history as he became the fourth person to claim three or more league titles, completing the 8,000-meter race in 24:11.85. He joins a prestigious group that already includes UW-Whitewater’s Tom Hoffman and UW-La Crosse’s Jim Drews and Joe Hanson. Hoffman won titles from 1966-68, while Drews and Hanson captured championships from 1970-73 and 1974-77, respectively.

UW-La Crosse had five runners finish in the top 13 to guide the winning effort. Senior Paul Zdroik led the Eagle charge, placing second with a time of 24:35.63. Sophomore Connor Lonning was fourth in 24:59.60, sophomore Paul Moran ninth in 25:17.82, sophomore Dallas Vincent 12th in 25:20.88 and junior Ben Herdeman 13th in 25:31.26.

UW-Whitewater senior Brian Butzler finished third with a clocking of 24:49.54, UW-Stevens Point junior Cory Towle fifth in 25:04.06, UW-Superior sophomore Jason Lindelof sixth in 25:09.54, UW-Oshkosh junior Andrew McGuire seventh in 25:11.54, UW-Stevens Point junior Phil Richert eighth in 25:14.01, UW-Platteville junior Tony Kilburg 10th in 25:19.41, UW-Stevens Point junior Dominick Meyer 11th in 25:20.32 and UW-La Crosse sophomore Kyle Coghlan 14th in 25:32.99.

The top seven individuals received All-WIAC first team recognition, while runners placing eighth through 14th earned All-WIAC second team accolades.

UW-La Crosse head coach Don Fritsch was named the coach of the year, while the Eagles’ Dan Thour received the Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award.

Named to the inaugural All-Sportsmanship Team were: UW-Eau Claire’s Mark Sanders, UW-La Crosse’s Paul Zdroik, UW-Oshkosh’s Geoff Gundlach, UW-Platteville’s Tony Kilburg, UW-River Falls’ Andrew Reckard, UW-Stevens Point’s Dominick Meyer, UW-Stout’s Nate Carey, UW-Superior’s Lee Sims and UW-Whitewater’s Josh Smith. The team was selected for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season. It included one member from each school as selected by that school.

All nine WIAC teams return to this very same course on Nov. 10 to compete at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional. The NCAA Division III Championship is scheduled for Nov. 17 in Northfield, Minn.