Milwaukee City Wire

The following story is from the Summer 2024 edition of the "Roar Report" that came out June 17. It is authored by Gary D'Amato, the former longtime sportswriter and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who joined the staff as a feature writer for the Roar Report in Fall 2018.

Track and field coaching presents unique challenges. Unlike other sports, it lacks plays to diagram, halftime speeches, mid-game adjustments, and scouting reports. The primary opponents are the clock and measuring tape.

Coaches must optimize performance across a range of specialized skills with different training modes and requirements. The role involves orchestrating a symphony of sprints, vaults, jumps, and hurdles at meets.

Andrew Basler has led Milwaukee's men's and women's teams for six years. Under his guidance, athletes have consistently excelled.

In the recent outdoor season, the women's team secured their first Horizon League Championship since 2011 — adding to their indoor title from February — while the men finished second for the fifth consecutive year (the 2020 meet was canceled due to COVID).

Basler highlighted the significance of this victory given their close second-place finishes both indoors and outdoors in 2023.

"Last year indoor, we were slated on paper to win by like 20 points and we just lost a few points here, a few points there," he said. "I think the women came away from that championship now knowing we can win this."

Four Milwaukee athletes competed in the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds: Natalie Block in hurdles; Golden Cotton in the 100-meter dash; Anthony Campbell in long jump; and Tabitha Wechlo in shot put. Block advanced to compete at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Basler credits his assistant coaches Terrance Howard and Caleb Rogalski (throws), Andrew Hatch (sprints), Jake Reilly and Maddie Wood (distance), and Zachary Schmidt (pole vault/jumps) for their contributions.

"We've formed into a good staff," Basler said. "We recruit and coach people first, students second, and athletes third."

In addition to overseeing all aspects of the program, Basler directly coaches heptathletes, decathletes, long jumpers, triple jumpers, and high jumpers.

"You rely heavily that your athletes are making the right decisions outside of track," he said. "In our sport...what you do in the dark gets exposed when the light is on you."

Basler brings personal experience as a former student-athlete at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where he won national titles in long jump.

He accepted his current position after successful stints at UC Riverside and Central Michigan University despite lacking an outdoor facility on campus.

The Panthers practice outdoors at Shorewood High School under an agreement with Wisconsin Lutheran College which uses Milwaukee's Klotsche Center during winter months.

"We're going to do our best with what's given to us," Basler stated. "We're not going to complain about what we don't have."

With recent successes behind them — including standout performances from Anelise Egge and Anna Szepieniec — Basler aims for continued excellence despite rival schools' strategies such as redshirting key athletes.

Basler’s next goal is securing a conference title for Milwaukee’s men’s team who last won Horizon League indoor/outdoor titles in 2015 while Youngstown State dominated recent championships.

"So as a coaching staff now we're really turning our attention towards closing that gap with Youngstown on men's side so both genders are celebrating together," Basler said.

Long-term ambitions include positioning Milwaukee among top-30 track/field programs nationally.

"In track/field...it doesn't matter if it says 'Milwaukee' or 'LSU.' It's you vs them," Basler emphasized.

No excuses?

"Heck no," he affirmed with a smile.