The UW-Whitewater men’s and women’s team both competed in their first outdoor home meet of the outdoor season when they competed in the Rex Foster Twilight meet, Friday April 5. Both teams finished in first place ahead of MSOE, UW-Parkside and UW-Stevens Point.
As a whole, the women’s team finished with 238.5 points where they showed out in the track events. In the 100 meter finals, the top four finishers featured three Wahawks with Tina Shelton leading the pack followed by Danielle Pouska in second place and Jacqueline Kornowski in fourth place. Shelton’s time of 11.74 seconds was not only the fastest time in the event but her fastest time of her season so far.
In the 1500m Ari De La Cerda finished first with a score of 4 minutes 49.81 seconds and Paige Fassbender and Payton Scoggin finished fourth and fifth, respectively, allowing Whitewater to grab 19 points from the event.
In addition to having a solid outing in the track events, the Warhawks were able to perform at a high level in the field events. Junior Gracie Holland finished first in two events scoring a 3.92m in the pole vault and first in the long jump with a mark of 5.18m.
The men’s team ended the day with a score of 246.33. Just as the women’s team did in the 100m, the men had multiple runners finish in the top five including junior Andy Vanzile taking the number two spot with a mark of 10.74 just shy of MSOE’s Evan Ploeckelman who finished in first place with a mark of 10.72.
“I thought it was good, that was a lifetime PR so it felt good to get that under the belt and just be able to do that, it was really cool,” said Vanzile. “I thought we did really well as a group. That’s one of the better opening meets for us as a group so it was cool to see.”
One of the factors going from the indoor season to the outdoor season is the weather where temperatures change drastically from the start of the day to the end. When the meet first began it was a cloudy, windy, and chilly day, but by the middle of the meet the sun came out shining, and with that, the temperature rose.
“Right now it’s 40 degrees. It takes ‘til about May to get comfortable with the weather,” said junior and track athlete Tamir Thomas.
“It’s a little challenging with the wind sometimes,” added Vanzile.
The Warhawks will have to wait until April 26 until they can compete on their home track again. Their next meet will be held in Platteville, Saturday April 13.
