The Milwaukee Panthers track and field teams are preparing to compete at the Horizon League Indoor Championships, which will take place at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. The event is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday inside the Watson and Tressel Training Site, with both days starting at 8:00 a.m. CT.
At their most recent meet, the Panther Tune-Up held at home in the Klotsche Center, several athletes posted notable performances. For the men’s team, Josh Cygan achieved a personal-best in the weight throw with a distance of 17.58 meters, placing him fourth in program history. Kyril Griffin also secured a win in the triple jump with a personal-best of 14.46 meters. Anthony Buford recorded a career-best long jump of 7.50 meters, now third all-time for Milwaukee.
Sam Schreiber finished third in the mile run (4:15.81), earning his first Horizon League Men’s Runner of the Week award. Other highlights included Tyler Dahlie and Ty Bauschelt each clearing 2.00 meters in the high jump, Trevor Boyer reaching 4.30 meters in pole vault, and Cullen Boyle running an 8:48.73 in the 3000-meter race.
On the women’s side, Anna Szepieniec led by winning the long jump with a record-breaking leap of 6.31 meters—surpassing her previous school record—and also won both the triple jump (12.45 meters) and 60-meter hurdles (8.53). Nevia Levenhagen and Kallie Volk completed a podium sweep for Milwaukee in the triple jump with marks of 11.72 and 11.54 meters respectively.
Hailey Soriaga won the pole vault by clearing 3.93 meters, ranking third in program history; Emma Johnson followed closely at 3.83 meters for fifth place all-time at Milwaukee.
Mercedes Herrera set new personal bests in both shot put (12.06 meters) and weight throw (15.16 meters). Isabel Roloff matched her career-best time to win the 60-meter dash (7.71 seconds), while Ally Schmitz claimed victory in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.41.
At last year’s Horizon League Indoor Championships, Milwaukee’s men finished second overall with 127 points—Anthony Buford was named Field Freshman of the Week after finishing second in long jump (7.20 meters). Jaelyn Reeves-Lyle won the men’s 200-meter dash (21.82 seconds), Bryant McLaughlin took first place in high jump (2.01 meters), Bishop Bufford won triple jump (13.96 meters), and Liam Richards captured heptathlon honors with a score of 5,125 points; McLaughlin was recognized as Most Outstanding Field Performer.
The women’s team placed third last season with 123 points; Anelise Egge received Female Athlete of the Year and Most Outstanding Track Performer honors after winning the mile run (4:51.98). Anna Szepieniec set a championship record in pentathlon with a total of 3,864 points, while Dominique Thomas won the women’s 60-meter dash at last year’s event.
This indoor season has seen Panthers athletes secure spots across various events on their program’s top-10 lists—including notable performances from Isabel Roloff (7th-fastest women’s indoor 60m), Anna Szepieniec (top-ranked long jumper), Katie Burns (top ten finishes across multiple sprints), Hailey Soriaga and Emma Johnson (third- and fifth-best pole vaults respectively), among others.
Anna Szepieniec broke her own school record twice this season—most recently leaping to first place on Milwaukee’s all-time list for women’s indoor long jump at both Tierney Classic and Panther Tune-Up meets—and has been honored twice as Horizon League Women’s Field Athlete of the Week this year.
Katie Burns is currently ranked within league top tens for three sprinting events during her senior season.
The relay team comprised of Victoria Evtimov, Taylor Thimmesch, Katie Burns, and Leah Handshoe broke Milwaukee’s program record for women’s indoor 4×400 meter relay at Notre Dame’s Meyo Invitational this season with their time of 3:48:06.
The Milwaukee Panthers Men’s Track and Field Team competes as part of NCAA Division I within the Horizon League and represents the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The team participates in both indoor and outdoor meets throughout their season while supporting student-athletes academically as well as athletically (source). Operating out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (source), they contribute to university athletics tradition through continued performance across conference competitions (source).
