Before the season began, men’s track and field head coach Mike Johnson said one of his top goals for the season was to finally win the program’s first-ever conference championship.

After a third-place finish in the WIAC championships last Saturday, the team will have to keep waiting for that opportunity. The Warhawks were unable to overcome the dominant UW-La Crosse Eagles, who totaled 165.5 points and won its 10th straight indoor title.

The ’Hawks, who finished with 102.5 points, will now turn their focus to the national championships, which take place March 11-12 at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

Johnson said the pressure and strain on the athletes will decrease in the next few weeks, despite the fact many will try to qualify for the national meet.

He pointed out that many team members will now be moving into their specialty events, which should cut some of the athletes’ stress levels.

“There’s not as much wear and tear on the athletes who compete in multiple events,” Johnson said.

The possibility of many athletes qualifying for the national meet didn’t weaken the pain stemming from the WIAC championships.

The ’Hawks went into the meet as the No. 23 team in the country (USTFCCCA poll) and had won some key meets during the first half of the season.

Johnson said the team was shooting for a second-place finish at worst, but some athletes just had a bad day.

“The guys performed the best they could but it’s just the nature of the conference meet,” Johnson said. “Some of our performances didn’t [go] the way they should have and the team’s that finished ahead of us had some really, really good days.”

Despite finishing first in the 3,000-meter run and approaching the school record in the event, senior Brian Butzler said he was one of those who had a bad day.

Butzler said he didn’t run the way he would have liked in the mile run, finishing in fourth place.

“For lack of a better word, I ran like a wuss in that mile,” Butzler said. “I ran pretty poor. I got pushed around and let that affect my race.”

Butzler has already provisionally qualified for nationals in the 5,000-meter run and the distance medley relay.

Like Johnson, Butzler said the week leading up to nationals will be a lot easier on him and the rest of his teammates.

“Now we’re just focusing on one thing,” Butzler said. “I think we’re going to have a better showing at nationals because now everyone is able to focus on the event that is their best.”