The men’s and women’s track and field teams finished eighth and 21st respectively at the NCAA Division-III Indoor Championships this last weekend.
The Warhawks sent 10 athletes to Grinnell College for the championships in Iowa. Two of the three women and five of the seven men earned All-American honors.
Junior Shelby Demos was named an All-American for the fourth time in her career after finishing second in the high jump.
“Individually I jumped at a great height, but had too many misses and came out second,” Demos said. “I’m happy with it but I know I can do better.”
Freshman Lexie Sondgeroth finished eighth and earned All-American honors in the long jump in her first appearance at a national meet.
“I could have done better but being in that environment as a freshman was a good experience and I am happy with the outcome,” Sondgeroth said.
On Friday, Junior Dave Kuczynski and sophomore Cory Zaeske were named All-Americans in the long jump after finishing second and sixth, respectively.
“Coming into the meet my goal was to become an All-American, and coming out I ended up being the national runner-up by a very close margin,” Kuczynski said.
On Saturday senior Luke Buchholz earned All-American honors for the third time finishing in eighth place in the high jump.
Junior Marcus Smith finished in fourth place in the triple jump to earn All-American honors. Freshman Mike Judd earned All-American honors with a fourth place finish in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.13. Judd broke the school record in the preliminaries on Friday with a time of 8.07.
“We had a lot of individuals perform really well this weekend, but unfortunately we couldn’t get a team trophy,” Judd said. “What we did here is a good platform to build on.”
Smith’s fourth place finish in the triple jump is an improvement from his seventh place finish a year ago.
“I’m happy with my performance seeing as this time last year I was coming back upset about fouling out of the triple jump,” Smith said. “But I’m still hungry and passionate to do a lot better.”
While several of the ’Hawks came away from the indoor championships with All-American honors, the team is looking to win a trophy during the upcoming outdoor season.
“Team expectations would definitely be to win that conference championship and knock off UW-La Crosse on our home track first and then bring home one of those team trophies from the national meet,” Kuczynksi said. “ Being so close this indoor season makes us hungry to get it even more.”
Both the men and women take a two-week break before the outdoor season begins March 24 at Augustana College.