Panthers Start Track & Field Season Strong

UWM wins 11 events in first meet of the year

Whitewater, Wis. – The Milwaukee women's track & field team won 11 events on the day and posted strong results throughout in a great season-opening meet at the Karl Schlender Invitational hosted by Whitewater Saturday.

The Panthers won 11 of the 13 events in which in competed in and posted an impressive 34 top-five finishes to kick off the 2016 season with a bang.

"This was a very nice start to the season," Milwaukee head coach Pete Corfeld said. "We had a lot of quality performances through and through. The team came out strong just like we talked about this week, which is great to see."

Sophomore Rylee Anderson got things going early in high jump after clearing 1.67m to take the top spot. That mark is also just shy of her PR, which already ranks third in school history.

The Panthers took four of the top-five spots in triple jump to continue the hot start. Alize Souter won the event with a leap of 11.42m, just shy of 10^th place in school history. Melissa Kirchoff (11.16m) was second, followed closely by Kanika Bass (10.80m) and Bryzena Santos (10.32m).

UWM finished 1-2-3-4-5 in the 800m. League cross country champ Leah Holmes came in first at 2:19.53. Sophomore Jessie Laabs was second in 2:27.01, followed closely by Becky Van Thiel (2:30.85), Lauren Peters (2:32.52) and Brooke Jameson (2:32.60).

In the 60m hurdles, Kirchoff won event in 9.19 after a blazing prelim time of 9.05. Junior Morgan Torrence was right behind in 9.23 for second.

Milwaukee also took the top-two spots in the mile. Junior Ally Anich crossed the line first in 5:28.82, with freshman Shannon Dugan second at 5:35.42.

In the 600m, a pair of freshmen led the way. Nicole Hohn recorded a win in her first collegiate meet in 1:44.42, with Aleena Villani second in 1:44.53. Milwaukee senior Dana Clausen, who is redshirting the indoor season and competed unattached, set a facility record in the event in 1:43.34, nearly a full second ahead of the previous best.

Cassidy Detert had quite the debut to her Panther career. The freshman from Marion, Wis. took second in shot put with a toss of 13.45m, which instantly moves her into sixth in school history after just her first meet. Detert also was impressive in weight throw, taking sixth with a mark of 15.30m.

The Panthers dominated the sprint events. Newcomer Lauren Magnuson won her first collegiate race by taking the 60m in 8.00, with Kate Novacek second in 8.05.

In the 200m, it was Anuli Okonkwo for the win in 25.98, again with Novacek second at 26.38.

Other winners on the day included Karlie Place (3.35m) in pole vault, Alisha Harper (5.35m) in long jump and the DMR team of Holmes, Jameson, Laabs and Anich (12:34.98).

"There were quite a few first-place finishes and it's good to practice being on top," Corfeld said. "This was a very worthwhile weekend, especially to start the year. I'm pleased with how we opened up and now we're looking forward to being home next week and expanding on today's results."

Up next, the Panthers host the Tierney Quad next Saturday from the Klotsche Center. Field events are scheduled to start at 11 a.m., with track events to follow at 1:30 p.m.

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