The Milwaukee Panthers Men’s Track and Field Team began its outdoor campaign on March 27, competing in both the Joyce Morton-Kief Invitational at Illinois State University and the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State University.
The start of the outdoor season is important for setting a competitive tone and evaluating athlete progress as the team moves forward. The Panthers, who participate in indoor and outdoor meets during their season according to the official website, are affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and compete in NCAA Division I as part of the Horizon League.
Head coach Andrew Basler said, “We had a great start to our outdoor campaign the past two days. At Illinois State, Cygan finished strong with a lifetime best throw.” Sophomore Josh Cygan achieved a personal record in the hammer throw with a mark of 52.49 meters, placing fourth overall and moving into tenth place on Milwaukee’s all-time list for that event.
At Raleigh Relays, distance runners Sam Schreiber and Harper Fahey both set new personal bests in the 1500-meter run. Schreiber’s time of 3:52.90 is now ninth-fastest in program history while Fahey improved his previous best by over thirteen seconds to finish at 3:54.22. Basler said, “At Raleigh Relays on Thursday, Sam and Harper had huge lifetime bests in the 1500m. A strong opener like that is a great indicator on their level of fitness.” He also commented on other standout performances: “The 400-meter runners had an outstanding opener for the season,” he said. “All three men opened with lifetime bests.” Ty Bauschelt ran his first Milwaukee outdoor race in 47.89 seconds—the sixth-fastest time ever recorded by a Panther—while Zac Schmidt finished close behind at 47.92 seconds for seventh all-time.
Other results included Bauschelt and Tyler Dahlie clearing heights of 1.91 meters in high jump competition while Kyril Griffin reached a distance of 14.15 meters in triple jump events.
The Panthers contribute to athletic tradition at their university while supporting student-athletes’ academic balance according to information from their official website (source). The team operates out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (source).
Looking ahead, Milwaukee will continue its busy weekend schedule by competing again on day three of Raleigh Relays as well as day two at Illinois State’s Joyce Morton-Kief Invitational.
