The track and field team ended the indoor season with a bang against Platteville Friday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. in the Kachel Fieldhouse. The Warhawks went above and beyond for this meet, winning 16 individual events. 

It turned out to be a meet to remember. The atmosphere was full of positivity and the Warhawks took that out on the track and field with them. They pulled off wins in multiple events, made lifetime personal bests, and upped their ranking on the conference and national level. 

“We always hope as the season goes on you get stronger and you get better, and that’s exactly what we did. We did pretty well tonight and it was nice to see everything went as planned. Not only are we ready physically as we enter the later part of the indoor season, but also are ready for outdoors. It just mentally, and from a confidence stand point, really puts our team in a great position. So I was really proud of the effort,” said UW-Whitewater head coach Mike Johnson.

To kick start the night for the field events, pole vaulter Chris Bitz now ranked eighth in the conference and 19th in the nation went a personal record of 4.42 m, winning the men’s pole vault. Freshman Gracie Holland, now the top vaulter in the conference also accomplished a personal record of 3.57 m winning the women’s pole vault for the night. UW-Platteville still held their own as well in several events. 

“It was a really good meet. We had multiple personal bests and that was kind of one of the goals. So achieving personal bests was on the top of the list and the second goal for many people was to qualify for the next meet at Whitewater. The third goal was to walk away healthy so in those three senses we did well,” said UW-Platteville head coach Chris Rotzenberg. 

Continuing their winning streak, the Warhawks also thrived in the track events. Some highlights included Conor Murphy running a personal record of 53.09, winning the men’s 400 meter dash; freshman Ari De La Cera running a personal record of 5:28.15, winning the women’s one mile run; and Kylie Jacobs coming in first for the women’s 200 meter dash. 

“Personally I think I had a really good meet not only because of my personal best, but because of the progress I made on other aspects of my vault,” said Bitz. “My plant improved, I was running faster and I was gripping higher. I’m more happy to see the small improvements of my vault than I would be with a personal best because in the long-run I’m going to have more success by focusing on small things for the future. I’m not going to complain about a personal best though.” 

The next challenge for the Warhawks is their Last Chance Meet at home Mar. 6 at 12 p.m. in the Kachel Fieldhouse of the Williams Center.