The UW-Whitewater  track and field programs held their annual Purple vs White Alumni meet Dec. 9 at Kachel Fieldhouse inside the Williams Center.

Starting at noon, the entire facility was filled with present and past Warhawk track and field athletes.

Since this annual meet was an exhibition, statistics weren’t recorded for national references.

Head coach Michael Johnson is always ecstatic around this time of year.

“Since I’ve been here, we have held this meet yearly to help bring back past members who helped build this program to where it is now,” Johnson said.  “Also this event helps me focus on what are current members are good at and what we need to work on.”

Past members such as recent graduate and former high jumper Cameron Magee is what Johnson loves about this annual event.

Making his first appearance since becoming an alumni, Magee had a lot of positive thoughts about the improved track and field program.

“I love the direction coach Johnson is leading this program,” Magee said. “When I started a few years ago we had good athletes but not as good as I see now. We were always one or two players away from a national championship. Since then each year this programs recruits have gotten better, so I have nothing but great expectations for this program in the near future.”

Now with a long winter break ahead,  Johnson hopes his team is ready for when they start regular season meets.

“This is the time of year when we find out who is going to stick to using training facilities and staying in peak shape,” Johnson said. “We noticed how different we performed last year when this program stuck to their workouts and we want to continue to improve. So in order to take that next step we need to stay focused and work hard in order for us to reach bigger and better things for this program.”

Johnson also wants to emphasize the importance of alumni and would like to see more alumni at next year’s meet.

The  first regular season meet for track and field  will the Karl Schlender Open on Saturday January 13th inside the Williams Center.