Royal Purple

Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Sports

Bell [Click to enlarge]

Rodgers [Click to enlarge]

Poppe [Click to enlarge]

Although the weather was more than unfavorable, the women's track and field team took third out of nine teams in the Wheaton Invitational Saturday. The Warhawks finished with 123 points, but fell a few points shy of the University of Chicago, who won the invitational with 218.5 points.

"The weather was lousy, but the athletes prepared very well," head coach Dave Wiederrecht said.

Freshmen Brooke Bell and Sarah Poppe, along with senior Jenny Rogers, won their respective events to lead the Warhawks in the competition. While Bell won the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.37 seconds, and junior teammate Erica Kosterman finished tenth at 28.84. Rogers won the 10,000 meters in 40:18.4, and sophomore teammate Jennifer Taylor was right behind her with a time of 42:17.4 seconds to take third place.

Poppe won the triple jump with a distance of 10.4 meters. She also finished eighth in the 100 meters, coming in with a time of 13.78.

Other top finishers included sophomores Rachel Puls and Charissa Wiemann. Puls and Weimann jumped 10.45 meters and 9.15 meters, respectively, finishing third and sixth.

Wiederrecht said that the women were able to be durable and resilient, regardless of the weather. "The women stayed focused and dedicated, and they were undaunted by the weather that apparently other people had a problem with," Wiederrecht said.

However, even the Warhawks had a few problems with the conditions. Sophomore thrower Dana Thompson took a hard fall in the discus circle due to the slick conditions, but still took second place. She placed fourth in the hammer and fifth in the shot put.

Wiederrecht said that his team is improving significantly. Fifteen all-time personal bests were recorded at the invitational, and there were only two events in which the 'Hawks did not score. Five of UW-Whitewater's 1,500-meter runners also recorded personal bests.

The Warhawks will compete in the Benedictine Eagle Invitational in Lisle, Ill., on Saturday.

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