University of Wisconsin, Stout Men's Track

Steiner will begin his third season as the head coach of the men's and women's track and field teams. Steiner joined the Blue Devil track and field staff beginning with the 2010-11 academic year, working with the jumps and multi events. He took over as head coach for both the men's and women's programs beginning with the 2013-14 academic school year. A collegiate All-American decathlete, Steiner has increased UW-Stout's presence in the multi-events for both the men's and women's teams. The 2015 Blue Devils earned eight combined All-America awards. Patrick Jenkins closed his career with two All-America honors in both the indoor and outdoor 5000m runs. Meagan Ward earned All-America in the pentathlon and the heptathlon. The women's 4x400-relay team, after winning the WIAC indoor title, earned All-America honors. Austin Zett (discus) and Paul Van Grinsven (steeplechase) both earned runner-up honors nationally. Jenkins (5000m, 10,000m), Zett (discus) and Christan Lucchesi (pole vault) won outdoor conference titles. Jenkins (5000m) also won an indoor title. Meagan Ward won the heptathlon and Laurisa Titterud (400m) and Kathleen Thorn (5000m) won indoor conference titles. The Blue Devil men finished fourth at the outdoor WIAC meet, their best team finish since 1998, and were only 10 points out of second place. The Blue Devil women finished fourth at the indoor WIAC meet, their best team finish since 2005. During the 2014 season, Zach Anderson claimed the indoor national hepthathlon title and finished third in the decathlon at the outdoor championship. Jessika Smith was runner-up nationally in the pentathlon and in the hepthathlon. Meagan Ward earned All-American honors in both the pentathlon and heptathlon.The women's 4x400-relay team earned All-America outdoor honors, as did Smith in the long jump. Patrick Jenkins earned All-America honors in the indoor 3000m and 5000m and in the outdoor 5000m and 10,000m. Nick Lubinski earned indoor triple jump All-America honors and Sam Elsner and Austin Zett earned outdoor All-America honors in the discus. On the conference level, individual championships went to Jenkins (3000m indoors; 5000m outdoors, 10,000m outdoors), Lubinski (indoor triple jump), Anderson (outdoor decathlon), Ward (indoor pentathlon) and Smith (outdoor long jump, heptathlon). In the 2013 season, Zach Anderson repeated as the WIAC outdoor decathlon champion and Jessika Smith repeated as the indoor pentathlon champion. Smith also repeated as the WIAC performer of the meet. Both Anderson and Smith advanced to the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, where Anderson was runner-up in the heptathlon and Smith runner-up in the pentathlon. At the WIAC Indoor Championship, three Blue Devil women multi members scored - Smith, 1st; Cheyenne Gray, 6th; and Heather Inczauskis, 8th. At the WIAC Outdoor Championships, Meagan Ward finished second and Inczauaskis, third. Both advanced to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championship. In 2012, Jessika Smith was named the WIAC Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Meet after winning the pentathlon and the long jump. Smith won the WIAC outdoor heptathlon title. She finished fifth at the NCAA DIII national championships in the indoor and eighth in the outdoor to earn All-America honors. On the men's side, Daniel Drewek won the WIAC indoor hepthathlon and finished second at the NCAA indoor championships. Zach Anderson finished sixth in the NCAA indoor heptathlon and fourth in the NCAA outdoor decathlon. Brandon Zarnoth was second in the NCAA decathlon. Anderson won the WIAC decathlon title and Zarnorth was second. Zarnoth was second in the indoor heptathlon. Stout sent four (two men, two women) multi-event performers to the outdoor championships, and four (one woman, three men) to the indoor championships. Steiner was named the UW-Stout assistant coach of the year for the 2011-12 season. In 2011, Smith was named the WIAC Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Meet after winning the heptathlon. Drewek won the WIAC decathlon title. A seven-time All-American at UW-Stevens Point, Steiner was a member of the 2008 NCAA Division III 1600-meter relay championship team and twice (2007, 2008) finished as runner-up at the national championships in the decathlon. Steiner was named the Pointers' male individual athlete of the year in 2007 and is a two-time CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American. Steiner was named to the WIAC All-Time Track and Field Team as the conference celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012-13. Steiner was an assistant track and field coach at Lynchburg College in Virginia for two seasons where he coached the high jump, hurdles, pole vault and decathletes. He also headed up the Lynchburg recruiting efforts. Steiner received a his bachelor's degree from UW-Stevens Point in biology and natural sciences, with an emphasis in education. He received his masters' degree from Lynchburg. A native of Grafton, Wis., Steiner finished second at the 2010 World Championship Double Decathlon.   Update: July 2015

Scheff at UW-Stout, who serves as an assistant cross country and assistant track & field coach. Scheff comes to UW-Stout after working as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado where he worked two years with both the cross country and track and field teams. In addition to working with distance runners, Scheff assisted with sprints and jumps. Scheff was the head coach of the boy's and girl's cross country teams, the nordic skiing team and the track and field coach at Math & Science Academy in Minneapolis, Minn., from 2007-11.  While at Math & Science Academy, Scheff was charged with initiating the track and field and nordic skiing programs. During his tenure, Scheff coached one all-state athlete, had three academic all-state athletes and qualified three athletes to the Minnesota state high school cross country and track and field championhips. Scheff began his coaching career at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minn., where he was the co-head coach for the girls cross country team and was an assistant track and field coach.  From 2005-07, he worked with four athletes that qualified to the Minnesota state high school cross country and track and field championships. With the track and field program, Scheff worked predominately with the 400-meter to 3200-meter runners and with the hurdlers. Scheff received his master of science degree from the University of Northern Colorado in Sport Administration. He received his bachelor's from St. Cloud State University in Physical Education.  

Larrison begins her third year as the assistant track and field coach for the Blue Devils in 2015-16. She will continue to specialize in high jump, sprints, and relays. During the 2014-15 indoor and outdoor seasons the Blue Devil sprinters and high jumpers showed strong improvements. Junior Nick Lubinski set a personal best in the high jump with a jump of 2.00 meters, which placed him fifth earning a medal at the WIAC Indoor Championships. Senior Jada Hamilton and junior Molly Brion placed fifth and sixth at the WIAC Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter dash. Both set personal records with Hamilton at 56.88 seconds (third fastest in school history) and Brion at 57.19 seconds (fourth fastest in school history). Hamilton and Brion were also a part of the womens 4x400-meter relay team that took first at the WIAC Indoor Championships, which was also a first in school history. The relay of Brion, Alex Titterud, Laurisa Titterud and Hamilton finished the race in 3:57.10 seconds. The womens 4x400-meter relay team placed eighth at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships and ninth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The womens success with relays did not stop with the 4x400-meter relay. Records were also set by Meagan Ward (senior), Laurisa Titterud, Alex Titterud, and Hamilton in the 4x200-meter relay (1:45.83 seconds), and Kate Johnson (sophomore), Alex Titterud, Hamilton, and Cheyenne Gray (senior) in the 4x100-meter relay (48.26 seconds). Sophomore Ross Thompson qualified for the second time to the WIAC Outdoor Championships in the 400-meter dash. Thompson placed ninth with a personal best of 49.11 seconds. Thompson finished off his season splitting 46.90 seconds as third-leg of the mens 4x400-meter relay team. During the 2013-14 indoor and outdoor seasons the Blue Devil sprinters showed tremendous success. Thompson and Hamilton both earned medals in the 400-meter dash at the WIAC Outdoor Championships. Thompson crossed the line in 49.71 seconds to earn seventh place, while Hamilton finished fifth with a personal best time of 58.55 seconds. Hamiltons success continued as she qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships as anchor of the womens 4x400-meter relay team. Assisted by her teammates Laurisa Titterud, Jessika Smith and Ward, the women became All-Americans placing fifth with a time of 3:46.57 seconds. Their time broke the previous school record by 12 seconds. During indoor and outdoor seasons the womens 4x400-meter relay team broke the school record a combined six times. The men were just shy of qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 4x400-meter relay. Thompson, Zach Anderson (senior), Cody Hodowanic (junior), and Kevin Salveson (sophomore) ran 3:15.75 seconds to be the eighth fastest 4x400-meter relay team in Stout history. Larrison came to UW-Stout after serving as the women's assistant track and field coach at Adrian College of Michigan where she was responsible for the jumpers, hurdlers, and sprinters. While at Adrian, she helped guide the womens team to a fifth place finish at the MIAA Outdoor Championships, including Jasmine Brown who placed second in the 100-meter dash (12.84 seconds) and third in the 200-meter dash (26.30 seconds). Prior to coaching at Adrian College, Larrison spent two years as the men's and women's graduate assistant track and field coach at Muskingum University of Ohio. While at Muskingum, she worked with the jumpers and sprinters. In 2011 she coached Demetrius Bailey to win his fourth Indoor OAC title in the mens triple jump (14.29 meters) where he was also named the OAC Field Athlete-of-the-Year. In 2012 Larrison influenced success from her sprinters, guiding Alvin Taylor to a second place finish in the mens 400-meter dash (49.33 seconds). Taylor also anchored the Muskie mens 4x400-meter relay (3:19.08 seconds) where a second place finish was also achieved. Larrison graduated with her Master of Arts in Education from Muskingum in 2012. Larrisons coaching career began at Coffeyville Community College as one of the men's and women's track and field coaches. She was responsible for the hurdlers and sprinters and was privileged to coach several NJCAA All-Americans. During the 2009-10 indoor and outdoor seasons the Raven sprinters and hurdlers acquired five All-American statuses for the men and seven for the women. Highlighted among those were Terrell McNeil and Paris Daniels. McNeil placed second at the NJCAA Outdoor National Championships in both the 100-meter dash (10.14 seconds) and 200-meter dash (20.61 seconds), while Daniels won the 400-meter dash in a school record-breaking time of 53.35 seconds. A graduate of Marietta College of Ohio, Larrison was a two-time OAC champion in the 800-meter run and also a member of the womens 4x400-meter relay team that took home the indoor conference title in 2009. She was a four-year athlete for both the womens cross-country and track and field programs, earning most improved twice and most valuable four times. She currently holds individual records in both the indoor (2:20.13 seconds) and outdoor (2:15.68 seconds) 800-meter run. Larrison graduated in 2009 with her BFA in Graphic Design. In addition to her coaching duties, Larrison is also an instructor in the UW-Stout Physical Education department.  

Zahrte, a native of Black River Falls, Wis., competed four seasons for the Blue Devil track and field team and was a member of the Blue Devil football team as an offensive lineman.   (Updated: December 2015)

Schauf is also the distance coach for the Blue Devils' men's and women's track teams. The 2015 Blue Devil women's cross country team continued to make marches in the tough WIAC, finishing fourth, marking the fourth consecutive year Stout has improved their finish. The Blue Devils also climbed to a sixth place finish at NCAA Division III Regional meet. Senior Kathleen Thorn put a climax on the year, finishing second at the WIAC Championship, the highest finish ever by a Stout woman. Thorn went on to a fourth place regional finish and earned All-America honors with a seventh place national finish. On the men's side, Tony Carr kept Stout's national qualification string alive when he advanced to the national meet. After continually sending individuals to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championship, the 2014 Blue Devils broke through one of the toughest regionals in the country and qualified as a team to the national meet. The advancement was the first time a Stout team qualified to a national meet since the 1986 NAIA Championship and the first Division III Championship since 1981. The Blue Devils qualified as the fifth place team out of regionals and finished 23rd as a team. Patrick Jenkins repeated as an All-American with a 13th place finish. Tony Cass (12th), Jenkins (15th) and Devin Sauvola (17th) placed in the top 20 at the WIAC Championship where Stout finished fifth. On the women's side, Kathleen Thorn, who set a school record in the 6K, and Jordan Kelch became the first Blue Devil women to qualify to the national meet since 1998. At the WIAC Cross Country Championship, Thorn and Kelch earned all-WIAC honors, finishing 13th and 14th, respectively. Jenkins and Paul Van Grinsven earned track All-American honors, with Van Grinsven placing second in the 3000m steeplechase. Jenkins was the WIAC champion in the indoor 3000m, and the oudoor 5000m and 10,000m. The 2013 season produced a first in UW-Stout's cross country history as Patrick Jenkins and Jessop Keene finished first and second at the WIAC Cross Country Championship. As a team, the Blue Devil men finished fourth at the conference meet, the highest placing since the 1983 season. As a team, Stout ranked nationally as high as 25th and placed eighth at the Midwest Regionals, sending Jenkins and Keene to the national championship, where Jenkins earned All-American honors. The women's team improved three spots at the regional meet. On the track, Jenkins earned three All-America awards and Paul Van Grinsven advanced to the outdoor nationals in the steeplechase. The 2012 season will always go down as a memorable year in Schauf's coaching career. Schauf was named the WIAC men's cross country coach of the year. Schauf is the first coach in program history to earn the conference award.  He led the Blue Devils to a fifth-place finish at the WIAC championship - a three-spot improvement from a season ago.  UW-Stout also placed seventh at the Midwest Regional, one of the highest finishes in school history. Tim Nelson successfully defended his WIAC individual title, then went on to take both the Midwest Regional and the NCAA Division III individual crown. Patrick Jenkins also advanced to the national championship, narrowly missing All-America honors in his first year as a Blue Devil. Before and during the 2011 season, Schauf was instrumental in the development of  Nelson, who became UW-Stout's first-ever WIAC champion and went on to finish fourth at the NCAA DIII national cross country championships. Nelson added a national championship during the 2012 indoor track and field season, and two national championship medals during the 2012 outdoor track and field season. On the women's side in 2011, the Blue Devils placed fifth at the WIAC Cross Country championships, their best finish since 2003, and 10th at the NCAA regional meet, their best team finish since 2006. During the 2010 season, the Blue Devils sent two runners (Peter Johnston, Tim Nelson) to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, the first time two Stout male runners have advanced to the national cross country meet since the 1970s. Johnston became the first Blue Devil All-American since 1987 when he finished 22nd. That 2010 cross country championship turned out to a turning point for Nelson. While not earning All-American honors, it was the last time Nelson did not earn All-American honors at a national championships that he attended. Under the tutelage of Schauf, Nelson earned indoor and outdoor All-American honors during the 2011 season, then went on to win the 2011 WIAC Cross Country championship individual title and finish fourth at the 2011 NCAA Division III national championships, Stout's best-ever individual finish. Nelson continued to excel, winning the 2012 Indoor 5000-meter crown and the 5000- and 10,000-meter outdoor national crowns. Schauf came to the Blue Devils after six seasons (2001-06) as the cross country coach for both boys and girls programs and five seasons (2002-2006) as the boys assistant track coachat nearby Boyceville High School. A mathematics teacher in the district's middle school, Schauf calculated the Bulldogs' progressive success. Both programs won the school's first-ever boys and girls conference championships , and the boys program twice qualified for the WIAA state championships, finishing third in 2004. The boys team twice qualified to the WIAA state championships, finishing 12th in 2002 and third in 2004. Schauf was named the District 1 Coach of the Year in 2004. Schauf began his coaching career  in 2000 as an assistant cross country coach at Darlington High School. In 2008, Schauf earned his masters degree from UW-Stout in Information & Communication Technologies and has been an instructor in the Apparel and Communications Technology department. A native of southwestern Wisconsin and a graduate of UW-Platteville, Schauf looks forward to leaving his imprint on the Stout programs. (updated July 2016)