Women's Track & Field February 25, 2018

Kirchoff, Arendt Headline Strong Final Day At Indoor Championships

Panthers finish third overall with 96 points

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Melissa Kirchoff won another league title and was joined by freshman Kyra Arendt in the postseason awards ceremony to headline a strong finish by the Milwaukee women's track and field team Sunday at the 2018 Horizon League Indoor Championships, hosted by Youngstown State at the WATTS.

Milwaukee finished the meet with 96 points for third place out of the nine-team field. Host YSU won the meet with 203.83 points, while Oakland came in second at 121. Wright State finished fourth overall with 50 points, followed by IUPUI (47.83), Detroit Mercy and Northern Kentucky (46), UIC (43) and Cleveland State (8.33).

Following the conclusion of the two-day meet, Kirchoff was named the Horizon League Outstanding Field Performer, while Arendt was named the league's field freshman of the year.

"I'm very proud of our teams right now," Milwaukee head coach Pete Corfeld said. "They battled hard all the way to the end. We showed a lot of fortitude this weekend. It was enjoyable to see the team finding themselves, both as athletes and adults. Both teams put forth a very high-level output all weekend long. Now it's time to regroup and get ready for outdoor."

After being crowned league champ in long jump on Saturday, Kirchoff continued her impressive showing at her final indoor championships Sunday, starting in triple jump. The senior completed her sweep of the horizontal jumps with a PR leap of 12.20m (40-0 ½) on her penultimate approach to take the title going away. Arendt was close behind at 11.83m (38-9 ¾) to bring home the silver medal. Milwaukee continued to load up the podium as Alisha Harper went a season-best 11.37m (37-3 ¾) for fourth, Bryzena Santos popped off a PR jump of 10.98m (36-0 ¼) for fifth and freshman Haley Pyan went 10.64m (34-11) for seventh.

In all, the Panthers racked up an incredible 29 points in the event, taking five of the top-seven spots.

Three more Panthers earned their way to the podium next in high jump. Sophomore Ashley Melvin cleared the bar at 1.69m (5-6 ½) – a new personal best – to tie for the top mark on the day before settling for third based on attempts. Melvin now moves into a tie for third in school history. Classmate Leah Lenling cleared the second-best height at 1.63m (5-3 ¼) Sunday to take fifth, while Rylee Anderson finished seventh at 1.53m (5-0 ¼).

In shot put, freshman Rachel Bullock led the charge with a big PR of 12.55m (41-2 ¼) to take fifth. Junior Cassidy Detert was right behind at 12.51m (41-0 ½) for seventh.

Kirchoff closed out her incredible indoor meet in the 60m hurdles. One day after breaking her own school record with a time of 8.62 seconds in prelims, the Franklin, Wis. native went 8.63 seconds in finals to bring home the silver medal. Lenling wrapped up her busy weekend with a seventh-place finish in 9.55 seconds.

In other running events, freshman Megan Safranski just missed the podium in the 3k with a big PR of 10:24.41 for ninth place, and newcomer Maddie Wood (5:16.56) and Ciara Kaderly (5:17.42) came in 13^th and 14^th in the mile to lead the way for UWM.

Milwaukee closed out this year's indoor championships with a sixth-place finish in the 4x400m relay. Michelle Meyer, Ashley Melvin, Maddie Martin and Leah Johnson combined for a time of 3:59.55 to wrap things up.

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