‘Hawks’ plan works at Drake track meet

Hawks plan works at Drake track meet

Cal Steed, Sports Reporter

The UW-Whitewater track and field team recorded eight first place finishes at the Drake Alternative Meet held in Whitewater on Saturday. DuVaun Goodlow placed first in the high jump with a height of 6-11.00. In the men’s long jump, Matt Green placed in first with a distance of 22-07:75. Parker Witt ran the 100 meter dash in a time of 10.42, placing first. Christian Jackson placed first in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.37.

On the women’s side, Jordan Tokarski placed first with a time of 12.45 in the 100 meter dash. In the 200 meter dash, Celeste Madda placed first with a time of 24.50. Megan Hering placed in first with a time of 1:01.14 for the 400 meter dash. In the 4X100 meter dash, the team of Chelsie Bence, Abbie Felton, Jordan Tokarski and Celeste Madda ran a time of 48.48 to place in first.

The men’s long jump finished with three jumpers in the top 10. Along with Green taking the top spot, Tanner Stephens placed in fourth and Dylan Ferger placed in seventh.   

“For this being our 3rd meet of the outdoor season, usually by now we would’ve had five in, and I think getting three in right now with where we are went really well,” Coach RJ Soderman said.

With Matt Green ranked 2nd in the country, Coach Soderman is excited to see what the long jumpers can do at conference.

“He’s currently sitting second in the country right now and I’d love to see him repeat as conference champion and I think we can squeak out two or three places in the long jump and then overall in the triple jump we have 5 competitors that are qualified and four stand a really good chance of getting on the podium.”

Shelby Nichols placed 3rd in the women’s long jump with a wind of 16:11.50 and is now shifting her focus to conference.

“For long jump, I need to make sure that I’m really attacking the boards and get my feet underneath me,” Nichols said.

The women’s pole vault finished with four vaulters in the top 10 including a third place finish by Sydney Davidson.

“There’s always things to work on, but I’m happy with everyone’s performance. Everyone keeps improving throughout the year and that’s all I can really ask for,” Coach Nathan Wells said about the growth. .

Next up for the Warhawks is the WIAC outdoor championships in River Falls. The two day meet begins on May 4.

Courtney Pohlman placed in 7th with a height of 10:03.50. Although Pohlman finished in the middle of the pack, she was still pleased with her finish.   

“I’m pretty happy with my performance. I didn’t quite get the heights I wanted but I made a lot of improvements,” said Pohlman