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UW-Stout Travels to Falcon Invitational
Jodi Larson Staff Writer
The University of Wisconsin-Stout track and field team traveled to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcon Invitational this past weekend on April 9. Weather conditions cancelled many previous meets, depriving many teams of the chance to compete. Therefore, the River Falls meet was packed to capacity as Division I, II and III teams competed together. “The River Falls meet was a big meet that a bunch of teams outside our conference competed in,” said Mitch Easker, a sophomore and distance runner. “It was nice to see other competition outside our conference. It helped us to see that we are a tough team and we can compete with anyone if we set our goals high.” The weather that day was cloudy and overcast with variable winds and scattered showers. Many of the athletes had to adjust to the weather and try to perform their best, despite unfavorable conditions. Since so many athletes participated in the Falcon Invite, the meet took approximately 15 hours to complete with some athletes competing in events that took place six to eight hours apart. The team was able to find its focus despite the poor weather. There were many high marks made that day, though it was considerably more difficult for the athletes to compete when events were so spaced apart. Some of the top performers of the meet were Sam Flood, who placed
first in the long jump with a distance of 23-feet, 5.25-inches. Flood was three inches short of the UW-Stout school record. Daniel Drewek took first in the Pole Vault, easily winning with a NCAA Division III automatic qualifying mark of 16-feet, 7.50-inches, outpacing the field by more than a foot. Ryan Ament reached a provisional mark in the discus with a throw of 163-feet, 1-inch. Lastly, Anne Guthrie and Jessika Smith finished first and second, respectively, in the heptathlon. “I feel we are off to a good start,” said Kyle Steiner, jumps coach for the UW-Stout team, “but it’s really hard to say anything at this point, because in track and field the focus is all on two weekends during the season– conference and nationals. An
athlete can really be having an awful season, but put things together for the two meets and consider the season a successful one. Having said that, I feel like we have had a lot of good things happen both during the indoor season and the early outdoor meets, and we are setting ourselves up for a successful outdoor season.” The team chemistry this year is very close and has impacted many of the athletes in a positive manner. “I love being a part of the team,” said Jessika Smith, sophomore in graphic communications management, “Track has impacted my life since my freshman year of high school and before that, when my oldest sister ran hurdles and jumped. It’s something that I’m very familiar with and feel very
comfortable being a part of. The social aspect and connections I’ve made through track are something that I will always be able to take with me.” Smith has already had a very successful year qualifying for indoor nationals in the long jump and is well on her way to another national meet. “I had my best time in the 400-meter dash, and our 4x400 meter relay did very good for being a last second decision,” said Austin Witt, a freshman in manufacturing engineering. “Our team is constantly improving as a whole and personal records are being beat every meet. We just need to keep training hard as a team and encouraging one another. I love being on this track team because it has brought me to an athletic level that I wasn’t sure if I could even reach and has made me a better person.” “The focus is to stick to the training program and stay focused on improving at our individual events in practice and the meets,” said Steiner. “If we can do that, we will continue to improve during the outdoor season and when we back off on the training, hopefully we can see some big personal bests at the conference/national meets. I want my athletes to continue to get better at their events and enjoy doing it. When that happens, the places and results tend to take care of themselves.” For the second outdoor season meet, the UW-Stout track team is making marks in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and hopes to continue sending athletes to the national outdoor meet. The next track meet is scheduled for April 15 in La Crosse, Wis.
Jodi Larson / Staff Writer From left to right, David Smith, Max King, Austin Witt, and Wes Evers huddle for a photo.
UW-Stout sprinters speed past UW-Eau Claire.
Layne Pitt / Contributed photo.
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