Milwaukee City Wire

Golden Cotton and Natalie Block have been recognized as the Horizon League's Runners of the Week following their notable performances at the Clark Wood Invitational. The league office made this announcement today.

Cotton achieved his first award of the season by breaking Milwaukee's 100m dash record twice in one day. He also contributed to the second fastest 4x100m relay time in program history and recorded a season-best time in the 200m dash. In the preliminary heats, Cotton set a new 100m record with a time of 10.40 seconds, which he later improved to 10.29 seconds in the final heat, securing fourth place. Alongside teammates Anthony Kessler, Zac Schmidt, and Jaelyn Reeves-Lile, Cotton helped achieve a relay time of 40.70 seconds. Additionally, he placed third in the 200m dash with a time of 21.15 seconds.

All three of Cotton's times are leading within the Horizon League, with his 100m time ranking among the top 50 nationwide.

Block received her third outdoor season award after setting two program records over two days and meeting US Olympic Trials qualifications for the 400m hurdles. She clocked a time of 57.68 seconds in this event, marking her fourth program record improvement this season and meeting Olympic Trials standards of 58 seconds or less. In addition, Block broke another program record in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.14 seconds.

Both times by Block are top-ranked within the Horizon League and among the top 31 nationally.

The Panthers have now claimed seven #HLTF Outdoor Track & Field weekly awards this season, with Block (3), Cotton, Anthony Campbell, Dominique Thomas, and Caleb Henry each being honored at least once.

Milwaukee is set to compete from May 3-5 at the Horizon League Championships in Rochester, Michigan. Post-championships, qualifying athletes will advance to NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Fayetteville, Arkansas.