UW-Whitewater will launch their 2023-2024 track season with their annual Purple vs. White Alumni meet on Saturday, Dec. 9, starting at noon in the Kachel Fieldhouse inside the Williams Center. The team hopes to start off strong, setting a bar for the following weeks of the season. 

“Last year, we had some good depth, and then we lost a few to graduation,” said head coach Michael Johnson. “But also within that depth, we were pretty youthful. And this year, we’ve got a lot of sophomores and also a new incoming class of freshmen, so we’re a lot more balanced. We are really mature with our skills this year.”

Throughout the track and field recruitment process, athletes found success through their experiences becoming a Warhawk. 

“I made the decision to continue my career and I ended up just calling the coach and explaining that I really wanted to continue running because I know I just loved it so much, and I knew it was going to be important to me, so I decided to join the Warhawks, even though I never toured the campus,” said Tina Shelton, a short sprinter. 

Shelton is looking forward to many things this season such as friendship, teamwork, personal records, and the community that the season brings to the athletes. 

“I really enjoy all the special moments between my teammates and I. Through the successes and hardships that athletics comes with, I’m so grateful to have this opportunity with really awesome people, and I love to see the success of my teammates as well,” says Shelton. 

But Shelton is not the only athlete excited for the start of the season, as high jumper Rebecca Lawrence who has many new goals going into this new season. 

“I definitely want to hit a PR. I’m sitting at 5 ‘2 right now, so I would definitely like to PR and then receive a medal at conference. I medaled my freshman year, so I want to kind of get back into that and then experience a national meet,” says Lawrence. 

The Warhawks know that leading up to the season’s beginning, it is crucial to wholeheartedly prepare for themselves to be the best athletes that they can be. 

“We don’t want to regress, it’s important to be able to do the things that allow us to get to those positions. So it’s not just the training, it’s how we take care of ourselves with our daily personal habits and things. And just doing the little things every single day in the practice setting that are going to set us up to do the things that we want at the time that it matters,” said Johnson. 

The team has been prepping for this season in more ways than just mental. They are consistent in the weightroom, as they have just completed their max out week. With the team stronger than ever, they are eagerly awaiting the first meet. 

“We’re looking at improving our standing both in conference and in the national scene compared to last year,” said Johnson.

With big goals in their minds, the Warhawks are ready to make big moves this year.