Panther Women Post Numerous PRs To Start The Season

Complete Results

St. Louis, Mo. – The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track & field team posted personal records seemingly across the board in its very first outdoor meet of the year at the Billiken Kickoff at SLU Medical Center Stadium Saturday.

"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 started the meet off strong, posting an incredible opening time of 47.00 in the 4x100m relay. Anuli Okonkwo, Kate Novacek, CherRay Dixon and Simbi Laaro combined to take second overall with that time, just shy of the school's all-time top-five performances.

The Panthers continued to flex their muscle in the relay events, taking the top spot in the 4x400m relay. Okonkwo, Chelsea Maxey, Laaro and Novacek teamed up to posted a winning time of 3:55.98, nearly a full second ahead of the next team.

Novacek then went on to claim the top spot in the 400m dash. The sophomore won the event with a PR time of 56.55, moving her into eighth place in program history in the process. Okonkwo also did well, taking third in 57.58.

Kamry Gipson also etched her name into the Panther record books in shot put. The sophomore had a personal-record toss of 12.77m (41-10 ¾), moving her into ninth in UWM history.

Milwaukee had four of the top-six finishers in triple jump. Sherice Hewett finished runner-up with a solid opening leap of 11.70m (38-4 ¾). Freshman Melissa Kirchoff was right behind at 11.42m (37-5 ¾) for third. Kirchoff's jump also now stands 10^th in Panther history. Freshman Bryzena Santos (10.51m) and Kanika Bass (10.33m) also did well, finishing fifth and sixth.

The Panthers posted an outstanding four PRs in the 1500m Saturday. Dana Clausen led the way, taking sixth overall in 4:45.67, shaving a whopping nine seconds off her previous best. Freshman Jessie Laabs was right behind at 4:47.84 for seventh. Annette Lemanski (4:49.45), Leah Johnson (4:54.52), Brooke Jameson (4:54.99) and Adriana Gutierrez (4:56.02) all also posted new career bests.

In the 800m, it was Clausen again leading the way for Milwaukee. The senior crossed the line in 2:22.57 for fifth, again just ahead of Laabs at 2:23.19 for seventh. Lemanski (2:26.45) and Jameson (2:28.15) again posted PRs in the event.

Hewett led a pack of Panthers in the 100m hurdles. The senior finished with a solid time of 14.79 seconds, fourth on the day and just shy of her personal best. Kirchoff (14.83) and Maxey (15.00) were right behind, taking fifth and sixth.

Michelle Garner had an outstanding opening time in the 400m hurdles, finishing runner-up in 1:02.82. Maxey was right behind at 1:04.14 for third and Tess Nelson was fifth in 1:07.85 – a new PR.

In short sprints, Laaro came in fourth in the 100m in 12.22 seconds to kick off her senior campaign, while Okonkwo was fifth in the 200m in 25.35 to lead the way.

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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