The UW-Whitewater Men’s Track and Field squad competed at the WIAC championships Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26. The team finished 3rd out of 8 teams, scoring 80.33 points overall, and finished behind UW-La Crosse (228 pts), and UW-Oshkosh (141.33). 

The Warhawks had a number of top performers, particularly in the longer distance races. The men’s distance medley relay (DMR) took home a first place finish with a time of 10:06.1. According to the UWW sports website their time was four seconds faster than the second place UW-Stevens Point team. The team was composed of Gunner Schlender, Hunter Manuel, Rhett Reuter, and Christian Patzka. The team was able to rally from fifth place at one point in the 4000 meter race to first at the finish. 

The DMR was not the only race that Patzka won for the Warhawks. Patzka also competed in the 3K race, scoring first for the Warhawks with a time of 8:14.78, in a race where he led for all but three of the 15 total laps. Patzka is undefeated individually this indoor track season and finished second in the Cross Country National Championships earlier this year. 

The success for the distance team was not only from Patzka, as Justin Krause experienced great success during the meet as well. Krause competed in the mile on Friday, and took second place in a field of 22 runners across two heats. Krause finished with a time of 4:11.62, around a second and a half behind the winner, Steven Potter of Oshkosh, who finished with a blistering time of 4:10.19. Krause also competed in the 800-meter, where he finished fourth with a time of 1:54.21. 

Freshman Dan Anderson also had a solid meet for the Warhawks, taking home third place in the 5000-meter with a time of 14:51.8. Anderson also competed in the 3000-meter, taking home an eighth place finish. 

In the heptathlon, which is seven events including the 60-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1000-meter, Whitewater’s Jack Mcginn placed third. McGinn was very consistent across all seven events, placing in the top half of finishers in every event except shot put.

Moving into the sprint events, there were some top performers there as well. The best finisher in the 60-meter hurdles was sophomore Marlon Cystrunk, who finished third with a time of 8.26, after finishing second in the prelims. Joining him in the race was Tamir Thomas, who finished seventh and qualified seventh in the prelims as well in a field of 24 runners.

Adam Kunny was able to qualify for the final in the 100-meter dash, but finished eighth. 

In the final event of the meet, the 4×400-meter relay, the team consisting of Kobe Chandler, Luke Zanis, Brad Heller, and Will Kaashagen finished fifth out of eight teams, with a time of 3:22.16. 

Next up for the Warhawks is the NCAA Indoor Championships, March 10-11 in Birmingham, Alabama. Athletes have a chance to qualify for that meet if they have not already qualified at the aptly named NCAA Last Chance meet this weekend, March 3-4, at a location yet to be announced.