The Milwaukee track & field teams are gearing up for their final competitions before the Horizon League Championships, with upcoming events set at Wisconsin’s Badger Challenge and the Jim Green Invitational hosted by Kentucky.
The Badger Challenge is a one-day event scheduled for Friday at the McClimon Track Complex in Madison, beginning with field events at 1:00 p.m. Track events will start at 3:10 p.m. Meanwhile, the Jim Green Invitational extends over both Friday and Saturday at the UK Outdoor Track & Field Complex in Lexington, KY. Field events will commence on Friday at 1:30 p.m. (CT), followed by running events at 3:30 p.m. (CT). Saturday’s competitions will start at 11:00 a.m. (CT).
Reflecting on their previous performances, Milwaukee’s women’s team had a standout showing at the last Saturday’s Fighting Illini Twilight, registering six top-10 all-time performances in the program’s history. Noteworthy performances included Katie Burns’ runner-up finish in the 400m dash at 54.72, resulting in second place on the school’s leaderboard. Burns was also part of the 4x100m relay team with Angelica Refinski, Isabel Roloff, and Victoria Evtimov, which clocked in at 46.13, the second-best in school history.
In individual achievements, Natalie Block led the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.73, followed closely by Anna Szepieniec at 13.86, marking a career best. Morgan Pilate set a personal best in the triple jump with 12.40m. Hailey Soriaga achieved a tie for seventh in the pole vault at 3.67m. Sara Jochims moved up to eighth in the 3000m steeplechase, finishing at 11:22.87. Anelise Egge improved her best in the 1500m run, ranking third all-time at 4:29.03. First-place achievements were also noted by Kallie Volk in the 100m hurdles (14.68) and Taylor Thimmesch in the 400m dash (58.45) at UW-Whitewater’s Drake Alternative.
On the men’s side, Jaelyn Reeves-Lile led the team at the Fighting Illini Twilight by climbing to second on the program’s all-time leaderboard in the 100m and 200m dashes. Reeves-Lile won the 100m dash in 10.35 and secured third in the 200m at 20.90. Josh Cygan was named Horizon League Field Athlete of the Week for his discus throw of 52.73m, which also placed him fifth all-time. Additionally, Will Whiteis earned a second place in the 5000m run, taking the tenth spot on the all-time list with a time of 14:41.24. Divine Aniamaka added another victory for Milwaukee in the triple jump with a leap of 14.97m.
Looking ahead, the Panthers will focus on the Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field Championships, set for May 9-11 at Farmers National Bank Field in Youngstown, Ohio.
