The Milwaukee Panthers women’s track and field team concluded their regular season with a strong performance at the Panther Tune-Up, held Saturday at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee. This event served as their final preparation before the Horizon League Indoor Championships.
“Momentum at the right time of the season can have a major impact,” said head coach Andrew Basler. “Across the board today, we gained a ton of momentum as we head to the Horizon League Championships next weekend.”
Anna Szepieniec led the team by setting a new personal best in the long jump with a distance of 6.31 meters, breaking her own program record and placing her 35th nationally among NCAA Division I athletes in that event. The Panthers also swept all podium spots in the triple jump, where Szepieniec recorded 12.45 meters, marking one of the top five performances in program history. Teammates Nevia Levenhagen and Kallie Volk achieved personal bests with jumps of 11.72 meters and 11.54 meters.
“The women had a great day in the sandpit,” Basler said. “We waited to open up Kallie and Anna in triple jump and they flexed their potential after taking only a couple of jumps.”
In pole vault, Hailey Soriaga won by clearing 3.93 meters—the third-best mark for Milwaukee—while Emma Johnson reached 3.83 meters for fourth place on the school’s all-time list.
“We got big throws from Mercedes and Claudia in the weight throw,” added Basler. “Our women’s vaulters had a great day, highlighted by Hailey’s personal best.”
Mercedes Herrera set two personal records: she threw 12.06 meters in shot put and achieved 15.16 meters in weight throw.
The high jump saw another sweep for Milwaukee, with Volk winning after clearing 1.70 meters; Olivia VanZeeland was second (1.70m) and Alexandria Simmons took third (1.60m).
On track events, Rachel Helm won the mile run with a career-best time of 5:01.43, earning her tenth place on Milwaukee’s all-time list for that event; Janiyah Taylor followed closely behind at 5:03.88.
“Rachel had a big PR in the Mile,” said Basler. “She is really dialed in right now and is poised to have a great championships next weekend.”
Szepieniec also secured first place in the 60-meter hurdles with an 8.53-second finish.
Isabel Roloff tied her career-best time to win the 60-meter dash at 7.71 seconds while Angelica Refinski placed third at 7.84 seconds.
Ally Schmitz claimed victory in the 800-meter run by finishing more than five seconds ahead of other competitors with her season-best time of 2:18.41.
Lilly Wepking and Lauren Wickus finished first and second respectively in the 200-meter dash with times of 27.07 seconds and 27.28 seconds.
Isabella Switalski rounded out notable performances by finishing third—and setting a personal record—in the 3000-meter run (10:40.43).
“Overall, we have a lot of momentum heading into the championships,” concluded Basler.”Both teams will be fighting for hardware, which is the standard we have at Milwaukee.”
The Panthers are part of NCAA Division I athletics as members of both the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s athletic program and the Horizon League. They compete indoors during winter months like this recent meet at their home base in Milwaukee, supporting student-athletes’ academic progress alongside athletic commitments throughout indoor and outdoor seasons (official website).
Next week’s Horizon League Indoor Championships will take place February 28 through March 1 at Youngstown State University’s Watson and Tressel Training Site.
