Men’s Track & Field Has Record-Breaking Start To Season

Team wins eight events Saturday

Complete Results

St. Louis, Mo. – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's track & field team won an outstanding eight events and finished second in five more in remarkable start to the 2015 outdoor season at the Billiken Kickoff at the SLU Medical Center Stadium Saturday.

The Panthers finished the two-day meet having broken an incredible 7 meet records and 2 facility records as a team.

"What a great meet. Arguably one of our best to start a season ever," Milwaukee head coach Pete Corfeld said. "One of the main things we were looking to work on was competitiveness and the team came out strong in that regard. We had personal bests through and through. This should be a great indication of how the outdoor season will go. It's a great building block to start our season."

UWM dominated the sprint events on the day.

Junior Marquis Johnson started it off for Milwaukee by winning the 200m with a solid time of 21.54 seconds. Classmate Davontae Johnson was right behind at 21.87, taking third overall. Both times broke the meet record, set two years ago by former Panther Washington Farrington.

M. Johnson also topped the field in the 400m. The junior posted an incredible season-opening time of 47.66 seconds for the win, just shy of his personal best that already stands fourth in UWM history. Johnson's time also is now the new meet and facility record.

In the 100m, senior Matt Ferry came in second overall with a strong time of 10.98 seconds. Freshman Alex Hatlevig was right behind at 11.04 for fourth.

The Panthers broke another meet record in the 1500m. Junior Reed Schmidt topped the deep field with a winning time of 3:56.30, also a new PR for Schmidt. Classmate Tony Sustachek was right behind at 3:56.78, taking third overall.

In the 400m hurdles, it was Jordan Schmidt's turn. The senior won the event with an incredible time of 52.59 seconds, just over one second shy of his school record he set last year at regionals.

"Jordan's race was outstanding," Corfeld said. "He used his weaker leg on eight of the ten hurdles and still posted a time that should qualify him for regionals again. For him to achieve that in his first meet says a lot about where he and our team is right now."

Milwaukee went 1-2 in the 110m hurdles. Nate Pozolinski won the event with a new PR time of 14.53, moving him into sixth in program history. J. Schmidt was right behind at 14.63, again just shy of his personal best. Sophomore Taylor Koss was fifth in 16.63 and freshman Alex Rosno was sixth at 17.42.

UWM claimed the top-three spots in high jump on the day. Junior Brett Pozolinski was the top collegiate competitor on the day with a meet-record leap of 2.03m (6-8), just ahead of Nick Hughes (1.98m) and Andrew Keeler (1.93m) for second and third. Former Panther and now volunteer assistant coach Trevor James actually won the event with a height of 2.03m while competing unattached.

The Panthers continued that dominating trend in shot put. Alex Chollet set his second meet record in as many days with a winning toss of 15.21m (49-11), moving him into ninth in school history. Milwaukee then loaded up the podium as Sam Robinson (13.75m) and Silas Petrie (13.43m) came in second and third.

Chollet also led the way for UWM in discus. The senior was third overall at 47.76m (156-8).

Fresh off winning the league title during the indoor season, senior Aaron Dillon won the triple jump in his first outdoor meet of the year. Dillon cleared 14.29m (46-10 ¾) on his penultimate jump to win the event and set a new meet record in the process. Newcomer Cody Zaeske (13.84m) was fourth and Keeler (13.08m) took seventh.

In the 800m, Milwaukee boasted three of the top-seven finishers on the day. Senior Jeff Pigg led the way, taking fourth with a solid opening time of 1:58.45. Gerrit Bruni, running in the event for the first time in his college career, took sixth in 2:00.33, while Joseph Morgan was seventh at 2:01.50.

UWM also did well in relays on the day. The 4x100m team of Kyle Becker, Ferry, D. Johnson and Hatlevig finished runners-up on the day in 41.75 seconds – just shy of the school's all-time record list. Meanwhile, the 4x400m relay squad of J. Schmidt, Koss, D. Johnson and M. Johnson claimed fourth overall at 3:21.29.

Milwaukee makes another trip south next week, heading to Carbondale, Ill. for the Bill Cornell Spring Classic, starting Friday with the majority of events taking place Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

Washington Farrington: Senior; Sprints

Gerrit Bruni: Junior; Distance

Alex Chollet: Senior; Throws

Aaron Dillon: Senior; Jumps/Hurdles

Matt Ferry: Senior; Jumps/Sprints

Nick Hughes: Senior; Jumps

Davontae Johnson: Junior; Sprints

Marquis Johnson: Junior; Sprints

Taylor Koss: Sophomore; Hurdles

Joseph Morgan: Senior; Distance

Players Mentioned

Washington Farrington
: Senior; Sprints

Gerrit Bruni
: Junior; Distance

Alex Chollet
: Senior; Throws

Aaron Dillon
: Senior; Jumps/Hurdles

Matt Ferry
: Senior; Jumps/Sprints

Nick Hughes
: Senior; Jumps

Davontae Johnson
: Junior; Sprints

Marquis Johnson
: Junior; Sprints

Taylor Koss
: Sophomore; Hurdles

Joseph Morgan
: Senior; Distance