The UW-Whitewater track & field team competed in the WIAC Indoor Championships this past weekend and displayed many solid individual performances.

After a slow start on the first day Feb. 22, the men’s team battled back to finish in fourth place with 88 points. The women’s team fought hard for seventh place with 30.50 points.   

“I think we put in a really good effort, but we definitely left some points where we know we could’ve made up for it,” said head coach Mike Johnson.

On day one, junior Zach Jasinski won his second straight WIAC championship in the pole vault with a height of 16-01.75. The distance team of sophomores David Fassbender, Luke Sutherland, Brian Kehl and junior Clinten Woerishofer earned second team all-WIAC honors. Their combined time of 10:22.20 is good for top 20 in the nation.

The final day fared better for the Warhawks as the team excelled in the high jump. Senior Dylan Ferger won his first WIAC championship and set a personal record with a height of 6-09.50. Sophomores Quinn Halverson and Jake Lautenschlager’s identical jumps of 6-03.50 tied them for fourth.

In the men’s 60-meter dash, freshmen Dwayne Ford placed fourth with a time of 6.96 seconds.

“The year didn’t start off how I really wanted it to, but you just got to trust the process, stay consistent and hitting times like that really means a lot,” Ford said.

In the weight throw, freshman Daustin Martin placed sixth with a throw of 16.94 meters. Freshman Landon Zimmerman placed eighth with a throw of 16.64 meters.

Zimmerman noted he credits Martin and his success to making each other work hard in practice.

“It’s good to have someone who’s throwing about the same as you, and we push each other at practice,” Zimmerman said. “Being able to both get up on the podium without one knocking the other off was a great privilege.”

Junior Abbie Felton of the women’s team raced to a new personal record for the season in the 200-meter dash. A time of 26.01 seconds placed her in fourth.

“I just work as hard as I can in practice, and I’ve been getting faster so it’s been paying off,” Felton said.

The women’s distance medley relay team finished in fourth with a time of 12:42.61. The team consists of sophomores Hailey Van Ellis and Jessie Braun, and seniors Jordan Tokarski and Tiffany Bianco.

Though there weren’t enough points to win a championship, Coach Johnson said he was still proud of his team.

“You know it’s not what you see here, it’s what we see every single day how these kids show up,” Johnson said. “Not just they work hard, but they exemplify their character in a way that I think is unmatched in our conference.”

Next up for the Warhawks is a trip to UW-Platteville on March 1 for the Last Chance Meet. Then the Warhawks travel to UW-Stevens Point on March 2 for the Pointer Final Qualifier.