April 22, 2015 By Alex Calles
The Warhawk men’s and women’s track and field team got out of the blocks quickly as a team. The men’s team is ranked second in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll for D-III. This is a three spot jump for the poll rankings as of April 14.
After coming in third of 12 teams at the Meet of Champions and Multi-Event on April 18, the ’Hawks can jump into first in the national rankings. The Warhawks’141.27 points trails WIAC rival UW-La Crosse’s 192.22 point total.
If this team continues to compete at this level, there has to be many champions on this team. Obviously there is a will-to-win as a team, but having national champions on the team gives it a little more morale going into the final championship run.
Freshman Brett Harms had his career-best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:38.99 during the Meet of Champions and Multi-Event last Saturday.
When runners and throwers compete at a high level, it brings the best out in the rest of the team. When everyone wants to see their teammates do their best, then that pushes individual performances for the better.
The better the individual performances, the better the team does. Competitors need to be selfish to help their team succeed.
The women’s track and field team is currently ranked in third according to the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Associated poll for D-III. This is the same ranking as last week for the ’Hawks. The Warhawks (128.29) also have WIAC rivals ahead of them in second place UW-Oshkosh (131.77) and first place UW-La Crosse (208.02).
Although the deficit for the ’Hawks to take first place in polls is by a large margin, if they continue to compete the way they have to start the outdoor season they will be able to contest the other two teams for their positioning in the rankings.
In the Augustana Women’s Invitational on April 17, the ’Hawks placed third of 12 teams.
Like the men’s team, the women also had individuals that had season best for two different events.
Senior and captain Amanda Brom had a season-best in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.82.
In the 4×400 relay team, junior Megan Buse, sophomore Leah Richter, junior Candice Wayne and sophomore Meredith Heller combined to split the credit for the team’s season best.
Both men and women teams will compete to win the WIAC outdoor championships on May 1-2. If both teams continue to win this way, the WIAC championships will be very fun to watch.
Also, since both men and women teams are fighting for rankings against other WIAC teams for the national polls, it could close the gap or put one of the teams ahead by a bigger margin.
On Friday and Saturday, the men and women will compete in the Drake Relays at Drake University. There will also be a meet at Rex Foster Track for the UW-Whitewater Drake Alternative Meet at 10 a.m. on April 25.
