March 11, 2015 By Alex Calles
Seniors Shelby Mahr and Lexie Sondgeroth both qualified for the 2015 NCAA D-III Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 13-14.
Sondgeroth will participate in the long jump, 200- and 400- metter dashes while Mahr will compete in the shotput and weight throw in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in the Last Chance meet on March 6 at the UW-Platteville.
The men’s track and field team competed in six events during the Last Chance meet. Going into the meet, the team was ranked No. 5 based on the USTFCCCA.
The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association had the women track and field team ranked No. 13. Last week they were ranked eighth in the USTFCCCA rankings.
The Warhawks swept the top two spots in the long jump. Senior Justin Bowers finished in first place with a jump of 22-00.75. Junior Alex Tassoul took second with a jump of 20-08.00.
In the 800-meter run, ’Hawks freshman Brett Harms also finished first crossing the finish line at 1:58.65.
In the shot put, sophomore Kyle McNeil launched himself into third place with a toss of 44-11.75, and teammate Theron Baumann finished in fifth with a throw of 39-00.25.
The women’s track and field team competed in four events during Friday’s Last Chance meet.
Tyler Henderson leaped into the No. 23 spot in the nation for the triple jump. Her jump, and now personal best, was 37-02.25.
Freshman Courtney Pohlman finished in third while competing in the pole vault with a mark of 11-01.75.
Freshman Erika Sternard finished fourth in the high jump posting a height of 5-03.25.
The team made an effort to cheer on each other throughout the meet.
“Everyone was yelling across the field house,” Sternard said. “It was pretty cool.”
The National Qualifier at UW-Stevens Point on March 7 was the final stop before the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships.
Sternard finished seventh in Saturday’s competition when she posted her high jump mark of 5-02.50.
“I was just focused on doing the best I could do,” Sternard said.
Mahr finished in second place in two events. Her shot put throw was marked at 46-09.00 and her weighted throw was 60-08.00.
The women’s 4×400-meter team: Candice Wayne, Amanda Brom, Leah Ritcher and Lexie Sondgeroth posted a time of 3:57.44 which was the eighth best time in the event.
For the men’s 4×400-meter relay team: Devin Grainger, Zak Fritz, Tony Urbanski and Jared Denu finished in seventh place with a time of 3:19.54. Denu also finished seventh in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.64 seconds.
Freshman Cameron MaGee posted a mark of 6-04.00 in the high jump where he took third place.
The men’s and women’s season does not end there. The outdoor track and field season begins April 3.
