The Milwaukee men’s track and field team concluded the Horizon League Championships with a second-place finish for the sixth consecutive year, securing six individual titles over the weekend. The event took place in Youngstown, Ohio.
Jaelyn Reeves-Lile was a standout performer, earning the Men’s ARI Accelerator Outstanding Running Performer of the Meet. He set new records in both the 100m dash with a time of 10.24 and the 200m dash with a time of 20.51. “Jaelyn had a great championship meet,” said head coach Andrew Basler, highlighting his achievements.
Anthony Buford was recognized as the Horizon League Field Freshman of the Year after winning the long jump. He also achieved a personal best in the 400m dash, finishing fourth with a time of 49.19.
Divine Aniamaka excelled in the triple jump, matching the program record with a leap of 15.39m and securing first place by more than 1.6 meters ahead of competitors. Bryant McLaughlin and Bishop Bufford also performed well in this event, taking third and fourth places respectively.
Caden Thomas secured second place in the high jump by clearing 2.02m, while Jeremiah Johnson earned third place in the hammer throw with a personal best toss of 51.40m.
Lucas Picco finished fourth in the finals of the 800m run with a time of 1:51.93, and Liam Richards achieved his best outdoor pole vault performance, taking fourth place at 4.41m. Richards also competed in the finals of the 110m hurdles, finishing fifth with Ethan Mitchell close behind in sixth.
Will Whiteis was Milwaukee’s top finisher in the 5000m run, completing it in tenth place with a time of 14:59.53.
Head coach Andrew Basler acknowledged all participants’ efforts despite challenging conditions during some events: “I need to shoutout all our 5000m runners for persevering through heat we have not run in this year and battling hard.”
Overall, Milwaukee accumulated 141 points throughout three days of competition. Basler reflected on their performance: “The goal is to compete for Horizon League Championships each season and in that sense, we fell short.” He added that despite not achieving their ultimate goal, there were significant accomplishments: “We will continue to find ways to improve as a program to put us in a position to get to the top of the podium.”
Next up for qualifying athletes are NCAA West Regional Preliminary Rounds scheduled from May 28-31 at Texas A&M’s E.B Cushing Stadium.
