The Lawrence University track team started off its 2010 indoor season at UW-Whitewater last weekend to compete in the Warhawk Opener.
Viking Athlete of the Week and Lawrence sophomore Emily Muhs finished the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:29:14, scoring and closing for the women’s team. Muhs ran the majority of the race in second place behind St. Norbert freshman Amanda Whipple, but Muhs made her move in the last 200 meters of the race to finish 0.2 seconds ahead of Whipple.
Freshman Amanda Dwyer also had a strong meet, finishing in second place in the 400-meter dash and third in the 800-meter run. Leading the Viking women jumpers was senior Madeline Steininger, who took third place in the long jump with a best jump of 4.75 meters.
For the men’s team, freshman Sam Stevens was named Men’s Track Performer of the Week for the Midwest Conference and Viking Athlete of the Week for his dominating performance in the 800-meter run. He finished the race with a time of 2:01:33, more than two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, UW-Whitewater’s Kyle O’Rourke. Stevens also ran the 1,600-meter relay with freshman Mason Cannon and seniors Matt Frelich and Mark Sprtel, taking fourth place with a time of 3:48.57.
Sprtel finished in second place in the one-mile run with a time of 4:40.52 behind UW-Whitewater’s Brakken Kraker.
After his first track meet at Lawrence, Cannon was quick to look to the future, noting, “It was a good start to the season. Many of us could do better, so we’ll only improve.”
With many of its stronger performances coming from underclassmen, the indoor track team expects marked improvement as the season continues, beginning with Friday’s UW-Oshkosh Invitational.
Indoor track starts strong in Warhawk Opener
