Warhawk Liz Mielke continues success she had at WHS
By Daniel Schoettler
Correspondent
The cross country career of Liz Mielke at Whitewater High School speaks for itself, as she was a two-time captain and the Whippets’ 2014 Most Valuable Runner in track. She even still holds the school records in the 1600- and 3200-meter runs.
Now, Mielke has made the transition to UW-Whitewater easily, and she is continuing to put up numbers that are impressive.
Mielke runs cross country and runs distance in the 3000- and 5000-meter runs. Last year, she was named the Female Rising Warhawk award at the annual Warhawk Awards.
Last season, she placed season best runs in the mile and 3000-meter run in the indoor, while also placing 19th in the 5000 meter with a season best at the WIAC Indoor Championships. In the Outdoor, she placed her season best totals in the 800, 1500, and 5000-meter runs.
“I would like to improve on my place in conference both indoor and outdoor,” Mielke said.
Mielke is also on the UW-Whitewater cross country team. She placed fourth on the team with a time of 25:06:02 at the conference championships in 2015.
Mielke said there is a benefit to running both cross country and track.
“In cross country, we just got a lot of our endurance and strength,” Mielke said. “The main focus on that is building up our cardio and getting as strong as we can for track.”
She added that, as the team transitions to shorter events, it becomes more sharpening and gets their fast switch muscles going.
“It is nice to have that base,” Mielke said. “Now we’re just working getting fast and explosive.”
Right away, Mielke saw similarities between preparation for cross country at Whitewater High School and UW-Whitewater.
Her high school coach was coached by UW-Whitewater cross country coach Jeff Miller and some of the workouts were similar to the ones she did as an athlete as a Whippet.
“A lot of the workouts are the same just an increase in volume,” the sophomore cross country and track runner said. “Just understanding the way things are done in high school are kind of similar to college just at a bigger level.”
Despite having to run in front of the hometown crowd while at UW-Whitewater, she does not feel any pressure because of her time at Whitewater High School.
“I guess I feel more support because a lot of my friends and family are able to come since it isn’t as far especially to the home meets,” Mielke said. “I know a lot of people here, so it is more of a family atmosphere.”
Mielke is majoring in physical education and Spanish, and would like to be a physical therapist. She would like to work with runners and prevent injuries.
“I’ve kind of had a lot of injuries in my career,” Mielke said. “So I guess being able to identify athletes and injured athletes and running will help with my career.”
Mielke is currently a junior.
