The Milwaukee Panthers indoor track and field teams are set to conclude their regular season with the Panther Tune-Up at the Klotsche Center on Saturday. The event will feature athletes from Marquette, Wisconsin Lutheran, Bryant & Stratton, and Wisconsin, beginning with field events at 10:00 a.m.
In recent competitions, the Panthers participated in Grand Valley State’s Big Meet Friday in Allendale, Michigan, and DePaul’s Blue Demon Alumni Classic in Chicago. At GVSU’s meet, Rachel Helm finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:13.03. This performance ranks second in program history and first in the Horizon League for this event.
Isabel Roloff recorded a personal best of 7.11 seconds in the 60-meter dash, securing seventh place in the program record books. Taylor Thimmesch achieved career-best times in both the 400-meter dash (56.71) and the 200-meter (25.72). Leah Handshoe also set a new personal best in the 200-meter dash (25.56), while Grace Kline ran her best time yet in the 5000-meter run (18:38.72).
At DePaul’s meet, Nevia Levenhagen won the long jump with a leap of 6.18 meters—second-best all-time for Milwaukee’s program. High jumpers Alexandria Simmons and Macy Woodward each cleared personal records by jumping 1.60 meters.
On the men’s side at GVSU, Ty Bauschelt entered Milwaukee’s record book after running a personal-best 48.49 seconds in the 400 meters, placing him seventh all-time for the team. In relay action, Anthony Buford, Matt Scardina, Zac Schmidt, and Bauschelt posted a season-best time of 3:18.19 in the 4×400 relay—second fastest this year within their conference.
Lucas Picco placed fourth all-time for Milwaukee with his effort of 1:50.59 in the men’s 800 meters; Karsten Grundahl now holds ninth place at 1:52.36.
At DePaul’s event as well, Kyril Griffin finished tenth in long jump (6.57 meters), while Olu Olu-Akintomide delivered a season-best triple jump at 13.56 meters.
Looking ahead, Milwaukee will compete next at the Horizon League Indoor Championships scheduled for February 28–March 1 at Youngstown State University’s Watson and Tressel Training Site.
So far this indoor season, Panthers athletes have earned or improved upon twenty top-10 marks within their own program records across various events including sprints such as Isabel Roloff’s seventh-place mark of 7.71 seconds over sixty meters; Anna Szepieniec’s third-fastest ever two-hundred meter time (24.68); Katie Burns’ third-place finish over four hundred meters (55.62); along with multiple other entries from both men’s and women’s squads.
Anna Szepieniec notably broke Milwaukee’s long jump record during this year’s Tierney Classic with her leap of six-point-three-zero meters—a mark that surpassed Samia Taylor’s previous record from eleven years ago—and has twice been named Horizon League Women’s Field Athlete of the Week for her high jump performances.
Katie Burns has made significant contributions during her senior year by ranking among league leaders not only individually but also as part of relay teams such as Victoria Evtimov, Taylor Thimmesch and Leah Handshoe who together established a new school record for four-by-four-hundred meter relays at Notre Dame’s Meyo Invitational by finishing nearly one second faster than their predecessors from back in two-thousand-fifteen.
The Milwaukee Panthers women’s track and field team participates both indoors and outdoors throughout each academic year as part of NCAA Division I competition under University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee athletics within the Horizon League. Based out of Milwaukee,Wisconsin,the squad supports student-athletes’ efforts to balance academics alongside sport commitments while contributing to UWM athletic traditions.
