Feb. 19
By Carson Taylor
The UW-Whitewater men’s and women’s track and field teams had record-setting performances at the WIAC Quad hosted by UW-Oshkosh.
Despite numerous career-best efforts, the elite competition across the WIAC got the best of the Warhawks. The men’s team placed second of three teams, while the women’s placed fourth of four.
Coming down the home stretch of the men are ranked sixth nationally, while the women are fifth.
Coach Mike Johnson said the meet went really well and believes the ’Hawks are right where they need to be.
“We’re definitely hitting our strides this time of year,” Johnson said. “Our kids are feeling good, and now we’re starting to hit the performances we want as we go down the stretch into the big meets into conference and qualify for nationals.”
Men
The Warhawk men excelled in the 60-meter dash. Sophomore Corey Broussard crossed the line first with a time of 6.90, seventh-best in Division-III this season.
Pat Chatman (8.12) and Moriarty Brown-Griffin (7.13) went three-four.
In the 200-meter dash, junior Dylan Crafton finished first, posting the third-fastest time in the nation, crossing the line at 22.22. Junior Jared Denu finished third (22.82), and sophomore Alex Tassoul placed fourth (22.84).
“I was excited,” Crafton said. “The past few weeks I was really struggling, and I wanted to go out there today and prove to myself that I still had it.”
Junior Mike Judd and freshman Bryce Davis went one-two in the 60-meter hurdles, with Judd running a 8.49 and Davis finishing at 8.58.
Junior Dawson Miller won the 3,000-meter run with a school-record time of 8:19.66, breaking the previous time of 8:22.25 set by Jeremy Burks in 2001.
In the 800-meter run, junior Anthony Urbanski added a third-place finish for the ’Hawks with a time of 1:56.00.
In the shot put, senior Ben Watson’s throw of 54-03.75 gave him a fourth-place finish. Watson now ranks 11th in the nation.
Senior Corey Zaeske had two top finishes for the Warhawks on Saturday. He won the high jump with a height of 6-5.5 and took the top spot in the long jump with a leap of 23-4.5.
Junior Justin Bowers was runner-up in the long jump with a distance of 23-1.25.
Women
For the fifth-ranked women’s team, juniors Lexie Sondgeroth and Shelby Mahr both broke school records.
Sondgeroth led the Warhawks with two top finishes on Saturday. She finished first in the 200-meter dash with a personal best of 25.09, beating her previous record by 0.06.
Sondgeroth’s performance is the fastest time in D-III this season.
Sondgeroth also added a season-best in the long jump with a distance of 19-5 to win her second event of the meet. Her jump also was the longest in D-III this season.
Mahr won the weight throw with a distance of 60-4.5, breaking the school record of 59-2.75, held by Jessa Luebke set back in 2011. Mahr also tossed the shot put a distance of 44-6.75, finishing in fourth.
Freshman Megan Linse finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.18.
Junior Amanda Brom added a third-place finish for the ’Hawks with a 2:13.34 in the 800.
In the pole vault, senior Melanie Pilon reached a height of 11-1 to finish third.
The Warhawks will head to Naperville, Ill., to compete in the NCC Cardinal Classic next Saturday before they host the WIAC Indoor Championships Feb. 28 to March 1 in the Kachel Fieldhouse.
