The UW-Whitewater men’s and women’s track teams opened their outdoor seasons April 12 when they traveled to Platteville for the UW-Platteville Invitational.

“We were happy to finally get the outdoor season underway,” head coach Mike Johnson said. “The weather helped us get some good performances in, but we are obviously getting the rust off.”

On the men’s side, the Warhawks ended the meet with first place finishes in three events and strong performances throughout.  Senior Matt Green won the triple jump with a mark of 48-02.00 (14.68 meters), which is currently the third best mark in D-III.  Sophomore Christian Jackson won the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.58 seconds. Senior Brett Harms took first in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a 9:43.85, beating out the runner-up by nearly six seconds.

“It’s just nice to have a chance to compete,” Green said. “It was really a good meet all-around.”

Other notable finishes include freshmen Brian Kuehl, who finished as the runner-up in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.31.  Senior Jonah Nelson finished second in 1500-meter run with a time of 3:59.48. Senior DuVaun Goodlow added another second place finish with a high jump mark of 6-06.75 (2.00 meters).  The 4×400-meter relay team of sophomores Tyler Theel, Greg Hatzinger, senior Connor Larson and freshmen Luke Zanis finished with a time of 3:27.86, good for a runner-up finish.

“We’re just trying to build on what we have started,” Green said. “If we keep it going hopefully some good things will happen during this outdoor season.”

The women’s team came out of the meet with first place finishes in two events.  Junior Celeste Madda took first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.27 seconds.  Sophomore Abbie Felton took first the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.35 seconds.

Other noteworthy performances included freshman Raevin Peek, who claimed second place in the high jump with a mark of 5-03.00 (1.60 meters).  Senior Lindsey Chase took third place in the hammer throw with a mark of 165-10 (50.55 meters). The 4×100-meter relay team of Felton, Madda, junior Jordan Tokarski and freshmen Karon Brown finished third with a time of 48.78 seconds.

“This outdoor season is a challenge we haven’t faced yet with so many cancelations and poor weather conditions,” Johnson said. “If we remain disciplined, we’ll be hitting on all cylinders during the championships portion of the season.”

Both teams will return to action next weekend at the Augustana’s Meet of Champions in Rock Island, Illinois  The women will start competition April 20 at 3 p.m. while the men will start April 21 at 10 a.m.