School record for most points scored at the WIAC Indoor Championships. Check.

Best finish in the WIAC since 2001. Check.

By reaching these feats and with its fourth-place finish in the WIAC championships last Saturday, it was quite the day for the women’s track and field team.

To go along with the accolades the team received, three Warhawks finished first in their respective events: sophomore Shelby Demos in the high jump (5-6), senior Sara Poppe in the long jump (17-3 ¼) and sophomore Jolyn Owen in the pentathlon (3,353 points).
All of this was accomplished with head coach, Josh Ireland, in his first year at the helm.

Although Ireland could not have written the script for his team’s successes when he was hired in August 2010, the team’s performance wasn’t far from what he expected.

“A lot of people who weren’t ranked in the top eight in their event really stepped up for us,” Ireland said. “Those are the kind of things we need more of in the future if we’re to reach our goals.”

Although Ireland might have expected the fourth-place finish, the team’s result couldn’t have been more unexpected for Poppe.

After having finished eighth, seventh and fifth in her first three championships, Poppe said the team’s finish couldn’t have been any more surprising for her.

“Going into the season, I knew we could do really well but to actually have it become a reality is shocking,” Poppe said.

Poppe and Demos both scored a first-place and second-place finish in the events they competed in.

Poppe said she was disappointed to not score a victory in both the triple jump and the long jump, but her excitement in repeating as the long jump champion was not lost.

“That was in the back of  my mind going in,” Poppe said of capturing both titles. “I gave our team what it needed with 18 points.”

Maybe most importantly for the ’Hawks, they were able to challenge conference superpower UW-La Crosse, which had won the previous three titles. The ’Hawks’ 99 points put them a mere 9.5 points behind the Eagles, who finished third.

For the ’Hawks, this finish bodes well for the team as it prepares for the outdoor season.

Ireland said this is exactly where he wanted the program to be when he took the job a little more than six months ago.

“I don’t want them to be content with fourth place by any means,” he said. “I think our goal at the outdoor championships is to shoot for third.”