The No. 10 ranked UW-Whitewater Men’s Track and Field team built on the strong showing they posted in the Karl Schlender invitational as they competed at the Warhawk Classic on Friday, Jan. 1.

While the Warhawks weren’t as dominant in this meet as they were in their previous one they still got some good quality wins and showings in many events, including wins in the 3,000 meter and 1 mile runs and in the pole vault.

Head coach Mike Johnson was very pleased with his team’s performance and the opportunity this early meet gives the team to gauge where they were early in the season.

“It’s good to see where we line up early in the season against our conference,” said Johnson. “The encouraging thing for us is that every team here is at least a week if not two weeks ahead of us training-wise. So to be one or two weeks behind everybody and be where we’re at now makes us really excited about where we’re going to be in a couple of weeks.”

For Whitewater, the opportunity to go against multiple top ranked teams was huge. Among the schools participating in the event were multiple conference opponents including No. 1 ranked UW-La Crosse, No. 2 UW-Oshkosh and No. 15 UW-Stevens Point. Non-conference opponents included Ripon, and the No. 19 University of Chicago.

With these factors in mind, the wins and placements that Whitewater earned on Friday night were a good sign for how the season could look. These wins included junior David Fassbender winning the 3,000-meter run, freshman Justin Krause winning the mile run, and senior Zach Jasinski winning in pole vault.

Along with these wins multiple Warhawks also logged personal bests. All-American junior Dwayne Ford took third in the 60-meter dash after recording a personal best time of 6.94.

“Everyone seems excited as a team,” said Ford. “Hopefully we can keep it rolling throughout the season.”

Whitewater’s next home meet takes place February 15 at Kachel Fieldhouse, and begins at 11 a.m.