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Rochester, Mich. – Tied heading into the final event of the day, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's track & field team won the 4x400m relay to leave no doubt in claiming the 2015 Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Oakland Track & Field Facility Sunday afternoon.
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UWM started the day trailing by 35 points but went on to win an outstanding seven events on championship Sunday to clinch its 11th outdoor title in the last 12 years.
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The Panthers finished with 184 points for its 16th outdoor title and 32nd total in Horizon League history. Youngstown State was second with 178 points and Oakland was third at 110. Valparaiso came in fourth at 73, with Detroit (58) and UIC (47) rounding out the scoring.
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Milwaukee head coach Pete Corfeld was named league coach of the year for the unprecedented 51st time in his illustrious career. Jordan Schmidt (track) and Alex Chollet (field) were named the Outstanding Performers of the Meet, while Schmidt also earned the High Point Scorer of the Meet honor.
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"Both teams showed great competitive spirit and perseverance today," Corfeld said. "It was just like indoors; a total team effort and every event mattered. Giving Youngstown a 35-point lead heading into the day could be daunting, but our team didn't let that get to them. There was a buzz going around the facility and it was neat to see people going from event to event to see how our team was doing.
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"It's a great feeling and I couldn't be more proud of my teams today."
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Heading into the final event with UWM and YSU tied for the lead at 174, Milwaukee marched to its final league title of the day in the 4x400m relay. Jordan Schmidt, Kyle Becker, Davontae Johnson and Marquis Johnson combined to win the event going away in 3:17.73.
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In the penultimate event, senior Marcus Paulson won the league's 5000m crown with a solid time of 15:00.58. Paulson charged out of the gates and never trailed, giving UWM its first ever league title in the event by a full four seconds.
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Milwaukee stormed out of the gates in the first event of the day, placing an incredible five on the podium in high jump. Brett Pozolinski and Nick Hughes both tied for the top height on the day at 2.06m (6-9) to take second and third overall on attempts. Aaron Dillon was fifth at 1.95m (6-4 ¾), while Andrew Keeler and Alex Butovskiy tied for sixth at 1.90m (6-2 ¾).
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Next up was the first league title of the day for UWM. J. Schmidt, Alex Hatlevig, D. Johnson and Matt Ferry combined to win the 4x100m in an outstanding time of 40.87 seconds – tied for fifth-fastest in program history.
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Milwaukee then took the top-two spots in the 110m hurdles for the fourth-straight year. Running into the wind, J. Schmidt took the league title in 14.59 seconds with Nate Pozolinski right behind at 14.79 for second.
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J. Schmidt continued his outstanding day on the track by completing the sweep of the hurdle events. The Kewaunee, Wis. native cruised to his second individual title of the day in the 400m hurdles in 53.10 seconds – the second-straight year he has won the league crown in this event. Sophomore Taylor Koss also scored valuable points, coming in fifth overall with a season-best time of 55.24.
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Three Panthers finished on the podium in the 400m. M. Johnson won the event for the third-straight year in 47.46, becoming the first Horizon League men's runner to win the event three-straight times. D. Johnson came in third in 48.76 and Kyle Becker was fifth at 48.86.
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Dillon captured another league title in triple jump. The senior cleared 14.69m (48-2 ½) on his final attempt to win by half an inch – his second outdoor triple jump title and first since 2012. Sophomore Cody Zaeske also did well, taking third at 14.55m (47-9), now ninth in program history.
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In the 1500m, Paulson finished league runner-up. The senior posted a PR time of 3:50.56 for the second-team all-league honor. That time now stands third all-time in UWM history. Tony Sustachek also did well and finished fifth on the day in 3:56.24. Senior Sam Leschisin also did well, capping his career by winning his heat in 4:01.34 for eighth overall.
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Alex Chollet closed out his outstanding career in fine fashion. The senior took fourth in hammer throw with an impressive toss of 59.18m (194-2), a mere three inches shy of tying the school record.
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Milwaukee continued its comeback attempt with more strong showings in the 200m. M. Johnson earned second-team all-league honors after crossing the line second in 21.95. D. Johnson earned another podium spot by taking fifth in 22.19 and Becker was seventh in 22.39.
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Also scoring on the day was Reed Schmidt, finishing third in the 800m to lead the way for Milwaukee to earn more valuable points in the comeback win.
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The Panthers are now off until Friday when postseason hopefuls will head to Louisville, Ky. for the annual Louisville Twilight in pursuit of NCAA Regional-qualifying marks.Â
Horizon League Outstanding Track Performer of the Meet: Jordan Schmidt, Milwaukee
Horizon League Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet: Alex Chollet, Milwaukee
Horizon League Track Freshman of the Meet: Leighton Antonio, Youngstown State
Horizon League Field Freshman of the Meet: Ryan Booth, Youngstown State
Horizon League High Point Scorer: Jordan Schmidt, Milwaukee
Horizon League Coach of the Year: Pete Corfeld, Milwaukee
Horizon League Athlete of the Year: Colin Cashner, Detroit
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