The UW-Whitewater men’s and women’s track and field teams will host the WIAC Outdoor Championships this Friday and Saturday.

Both the men’s and women’s teams are coming off performances at the Drake relays this past weekend at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.  The men had a few competitors in the finals of a few events on Saturday but none of the women advanced to the finals on April 28.

The men’s 4×100 team of sophomores Dylan Crafton, Matt Santas, Moriarty Brown-Griffin, and Nick Bee finished third of eight teams with a time of 41.04 seconds in finals on Saturday.  Junior Marcus

Smith finished eighth out of twenty competitors in the triple jump final with a total distance of 49-0.75 m, which was the best score put up by any Division-III athlete.

Smith has performed well this season as well as in past championships and he feels good heading into this weekend.

“I think I competed very well,” Smith said.   I turned in some solid times and performances in the hurdles and triple jump.  I think I need to work on staying more relaxed and not being so mental stepping on the track, but I trust my training and I think I’m where I’m supposed to be.”

The third place finish for the men in the 4×100 relay was the best finish by a team from a Division-III school.  Based on past championships and the way this season has been going, the guys feel good heading into the outdoor championships.

“What I know our team can do there is no reason we can’t be holding up that trophy at the end of the meet especially having the meet on our track,” Bee said.

Even though the women didn’t do as well as the men at the Drake relays, they still feel like they can perform well at the WIAC championships this weekend.  Junior JoLyn Owen and a few other girls have dealt with injuries but they still look to compete.

“I think we have a lot of talented girls on our team this year and I think there is a great chance that we will do much better than we have in years past,” Owen said.