The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater track & field teams opened their two day Squig Converse Invite at the Williams Center on Friday, January 30th. The first day of competition featured the women's pentathlon, the start of the men's heptathlon, and the men's events.

Amanda Hillman competed in the pentathlon for the Warhawk women. After taking the top spot in the high jump with a 1.55m, Hillman then placed 4th overall in the shot put with a 10.61. Out of the 20 competitors, Hillman finished 9th overall with 2516 points. Jeanna Roscoe finished 13th overall in the event, scoring 1872 points. 

In the men's heptathlon, Ben Bunton (Hartford, Wis./Hartford) for the Warhawks sits in second overall with 2636 points, only 25 points behind the leader. Bunton placed in the top-5 of every event, with a third place finish in the long jump after a 6.29m leap and a first place finish in the high jump with a 1.92m. Jackson Koppen (Sun Prairie, Wis./East) is in 5th with 2303 points. Bunton and Koppen will finish the heptathlon tomorrow morning with the 60m Hurdles, the pole vault, and 1000m run. 

In the men's track events on Friday evening, the Warhawk sprinters had a strong day sending taking three spots in the 60m final. Caleb Beightol (Belgium, Wis./Cedar Grove-Belgium) had the top qualifying time, and then took home the gold with a 6.72 finish, just 0.01 seconds off from his own personal best and school record. Kayden Baumgart (Mount Horeb, Wis./Mount Horeb) and Traysen Thomason (Whitewater, Wis./Whitewater) both had personal bests in the event. Baumgart ran a 6.99 in the finals to take 4th overall with Thomason crossing at 6.96 in the prelims. 

Thomason also had the Warhawks best time in the 200m, setting another personal best with a 22.96. Thomason placed 7th overall in the event. 

Kaiden Porep (Elkhorn, Wis./Elkhorn) recorded a personal record in the 60m hurdle prelims to send himself to the finals. With the second best qualifying time, Porep PR'd with a 8.63. The freshman finished fourth overall in the finals. 

Seven Connor was the lone Warhawk running the 400m in the Squig. Connor finished 18th overall, completing his two laps in 53.52.

The Warhawks had three in the top five of the 800m. Drew Davey (Elkhorn, Wis./Elkhorn) placed first overall with a 1:56.17. Rhett Reuter (Darlington, Wis./Darlington) and James Belus (Oconomowoc, Wis./) had a photo finish for 4th place. Reuter officially timed in at 1:58.089, taking fourth, while Belus was timed at 1:58.090 for fifth.

In the longest event of the night, featuring some familiar Warhawk alum, Dan Anderson (Eau Claire, Wis./McDonell) worked his way up to 4th, finishing at 8:31.54. In the same event, Jonah Block (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay) hit a personal best 8:46.23 to finish 15th out of almost 50 runners.

For the 4x400m relay, the Warhawks' top squad timed in at 3:20.69 for first place. Brad Heller (Brookfield, WI/East), Jack Erickson (Belleville, Wis./Belleville), Chris Kalies (Grafton, Wis./Grafton), and Gabe Ubert (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) were over 2 seconds faster than the other 15 squads. The squads time marks the 10th best in program history.

In the men's field events, the Warhawks set seven personal bests and two more season bests. 

For high jump, Jer'Von Anderson (Watertown, Wis./Watertown) surpassed the 2.01m (6-07.00) bar to place 2nd overall. Anderson cleared the bar on his first attempt, good enough for 8th best in Warhawk history. 

In the pole vault, Jack Froslee and Brady Schaller (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) both reached the 4.41m (14-05.50) to place 3rd and 4th overall.

For the horizontal jumps, Jordan Elliot (Madison, Wis./Madison Memorial) was the top Warhawk in the long jump with a 6.58m jump on his first attempt of the day. Elliot placed fifth overall. For triple jump, Aiden Neduzak (Nekoosa, Wis./Nekoosa) had a personal best in his first place finish. Neduzak marked at 13.90m on his third attempt to take the top spot. 

The final events to finish up on the night were throws. Landon Martin (Kimberly, Wis./Kimberly) and Jordan Jackson (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) reached the finals with personal best throws. Martin placed 7th overall with a 15.85m toss while Jackson measured 15.50m for 9th overall. 

For the shot put, Connor Fontaine (De Pere, Wis./De Pere) and Jordan Jackson (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) were the top Warhawks finishing 12th and 13th respectively. Fontaine recorded a 14.00m on his first throw of the day. Jackson measured a 13.98m toss on his second throw.

The Warhawk women will compete tomorrow in the second day of the Squig Converse Invite. The track events start at 12:30 PM after the men's heptathlon 100m run. The field events begin at 11 AM with weight throw.