UW-La Crosse senior Aidan Matthai rewrote the national and school record books Friday night in Iowa City and, in the process, claimed some significant family bragging rights — though the season isn’t over.
Matthai won the 5,000-meter run at the University of Iowa Open with a time of 13:58.61.
The victory makes him just the 11th athlete in NCAA Division III history to break the 14-minute barrier indoors, ranking him No. 9 all-time on the national list.
Closer to home, the performance moves Aidan into second place on the UW-L all-time indoor list. In doing so, he officially bumped his identical twin brother, Grant Matthai, down to third. Grant’s personal best of 14:01.86 had previously held the second spot behind school record holder Ethan Gregg.
UW-L 5,000 METER RUN Top 10
- Ethan Gregg 13:52.59 2023
- Aidan Matthai 13:58.61 2026
- Grant Matthai 14:01.86 2025
- Adam Loenser 14:15.48 2025
- Chuck Vater 14:23.16 2025
- Isaac Wegner 14:24.72 2023
- David Stilin 14.24.99 2013
- Brett Burt 14:26.30 1989
- Dallas Vincent 14:26.76 2009
- Josh Dedering 14:28.74 2014
The Matthai brothers have spent their careers at UW-L as one of the most dominant duos in the country. Grant is the defending indoor national champion in the 5,000 meters, but it’s Aidan who now holds the faster time as the Eagles prepare for the postseason.
The top-ranked Eagles head to Platteville this Friday and Saturday for the WIAC Indoor Championships.
The brothers recently were in the WIZM studio to talk about their running careers. Listen here:
