Jan. 30, 2015 By Kali Schmieding

The UW-Whitewater men’s and women’s track and field teams both performed strongly, but fell short of first place on Jan. 23at the North Central College Cardinal Opener in Naperville, Illinois.

The men’s team finished second out of five teams. The ’Hawks finished with 145 points, 44 points less than the first-place team, North Central.

The women’s team finished fourth out of six teams. The women finished with 88 points.

On the men’s side, senior Dawson Miller took second place in the 800-meter run. He finished with a time of 1:56.33. That is the sixth fastest time in the nation.

“I personally would like to win multiple conference championships and to improve all of my finishes from last year at nationals,” Dawson said.

Seniors Mike Judd and Jared Denu, sophomore Grant Loess and freshman Cameron Magee took first place in individual events.

Denu won the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.82. That is currently the fourth-fastest time in NCAA Division III.

Judd completed the 60-meter hurdles in 8.26 seconds. In the long jump, Loess posted a mark of 22-01.00. Magee’s jump of 6-05.00 earned him first place in the high jump.

Dawson also commented on what he thought about the meet as a team.

“Meets early in the season, especially during the indoor season, are not very important in the grand scheme of things,” Dawson said. “They are used for workouts and to solidify main events, with that being said we still performed very well. Almost everyone saw an improvement from our first meet and the only negatives were that not everyone competed due to injuries or because their GPA was below team standards, but everyone should be able to compete Friday.”

Other stand out performers from the men’s team were juniors Eric Barber and Patrick Chatman.  Barber leaped 44-06.25 in the triple jump and Chatman ran the 60-meter dash in 7.03 seconds.

The men’s team will host the “Squig” Converse Invitational Friday at the Kachel Fieldhouse.

On the women’s side, senior Shelby Mahr was a top finisher for the ’Hawks in two throwing events.

“I hit the weight room hard over break,” Mahr said. “I knew if I wanted to make myself and the team better, I had to put in the work over break so that I wouldn’t lose all the training and strength that was built up this fall.”

Mahr earned first place in shotput with a toss of 47-00.25. She also earned fourth place in the weight throw with a mark of 55-02.00.

Senior Lexie Sondgeroth also was a top performer taking first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.71, only under two-tenths of a second from setting a school record. This is the second fastest time recorded in NCAA Division III this season.

Juniors Megan Buse and Emily Kahl also took first place in events for the ’Hawks.

Buse won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.21. Kahl also won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:00.69.

“The chemistry and talent our team possesses, both on the men’s and women’s side, is incredible,” Mahr said. “The attitude and atmosphere is much different than years past. I’ve never felt so connected with my team, and I know we have the capability of doing big things because everyone is here to support each other and make each other better. We’re working for each other.”

The women’s team will host the Warhawk Classic on Jan. 31 in the Kachel Fieldhouse.