Royal Purple

Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Mike Rybicki Freshman Ken Schmidt leaps over a hurdle during Friday's Warhawk Invitational. The Warhawks finished second in the invitational's eight team field.

Blistering times and exceptional performances propelled the men's track and field team to a second place finish at the Warhawk Invitational Friday.

The 'Hawks began the event strong, as the distance medley team provisionally qualified for the Division III national indoor championships. The quartet of freshman Brakken Kraker, junior Alec Konopacki, junior Brian Butzler, and senior Eric Keen finished with a time of 10:02.3, narrowly missing the automatic qualifier time of 10:00.50. Keen was proud of the team's effort.

"We're really pleased with [our performance]," Keen said. "We're a veteran team. We went out and did what we had to do and [got] the job done."

The medley team was not alone in the status of provisional qualifier. Senior Kyle Ewing also earned the honor in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.46 seconds. Fellow senior Dan Hytinen provisionally qualified in the shot put with a distance of 15.10 meters.

While no qualifying marks were set in the weight throw, 24 of the Warhawks' total team points came in the event. Sophomore Shaun Davis led UW-Whitewater with a first-place finish, compiling a distance of 15.43 meters. Hytinen finished third with a distance of 15.27 meters, and sophomore Ryan Howell rounded out the top four with a distance of 14.78 meters.

Head Coach Darren Schneider was happy with the placement of his athletes, but he sees all of their distances increasing in the coming weeks.

"I think it's good that we had a big contribution from a lot of throwers, but if you ask the throwers, they feel that they can throw farther," Schneider said.

UW-Whitewater's total score of 167.5 points fell short of top finisher North Central College's 263.5 points, putting the 'Hawks in second place.

The 'Hawks will look for more top finishes this Friday when they host the Warhawk Classic, a meet that will bring elite athletes from around the nation to Whitewater.

"It's an outstanding meet," Schneider said. "Other than the conference meets and the national championship, this is the best indoor meet on our schedule. We'll have some of the top teams competing here."

Friday's Warhawk Classic will be held in the Kachel?Fieldhouse.

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