Milwaukee City Wire

Milwaukee Track & Field athlete Natalie Block has withdrawn from the NCAA Championships due to an injury sustained during a training session. Head coach Andrew Basler expressed his sentiments on the situation, stating, "Sports can feel like your best friend one day, and your worst enemy the next. Obviously, getting to the NCAA Championships and having an injury happen on a practice day is a tough pill to swallow. Knowing Natalie and her mindset, she will process this experience and will then use it as motivation."

Block had qualified for the national competition by achieving a personal-best and program record time of 57.02 seconds in the 400m hurdles quarterfinals at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds held in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

In her first-round performance, Block recorded a time of 57.90 seconds, earning her the 16th seed as she advanced into one of the day's fastest heats in the quarterfinals. The top three competitors in her heat posted times of 55.45, 55.80, and 57.00 seconds respectively. Block narrowly missed automatic qualification by just 0.02 seconds but secured an "at-large" spot with her performance, placing her as the 10th seed from the West.