Women's Cross Country October 27, 2018

CHAMPIONS! Women's Cross Country Brings Home Horizon League Title

Reilly named Horizon League Coach of the Year

KENOSHA, Wis. – This has been a long time in the making.

Longer, in fact, than the lives of any member of this year's team.

For the first time since 1993, the Milwaukee women's cross country team was crowned Horizon League Champions Saturday, after a complete team effort on a perfect day for running at UW-Parkside's Wayne E. Dannehl Cross Country Course.

Junior Mikayla Fox finished as conference runner-up, while sophomore Emily Royston also earned all-league honors with an eighth-place finish.

Jake Reilly – in his first year working directly with the women's program – was named Horizon League Coach of the Year.

"This is just a tribute to how hard this team has worked over the summer and these last two months," Reilly said. "It's the first time in program history (winning a Horizon League title). It's just a really special moment for the program.

"It's been a team effort all year. That's what we were trying to drill home, that it would take a 1-through-5 effort. A low stick would be helpful, but it was going to be that 3-4-5 that was going to be the deciding factor. And if you look at what our 3-4-5 runners did, I would say that was just as impressive as Mikayla taking second for the team."

Milwaukee finished the meet with 76 points for first place. Wright State came in second in a very close race with 79 points. IUPUI claimed third with 87 points, just ahead of defending champs Oakland at 89. Youngstown State (135), UIC (144), Cleveland State (183), Detroit Mercy (199) and Green Bay (311) rounded out this year's scoring.

This marks the first league title for MKE since doing so in back-to-back seasons in both 1992 and 1993 in the Mid-Continent Conference.

Fox – one of the top Horizon League runners all season long – ran a tremendous race from start to finish, crossing the line second in 21:39.8 – the eighth-fastest 6k in program history and just shy of her personal best. This marks the third consecutive year earning league honors for Fox, and the second straight time being named to the first-team after a sixth-place finish a year ago.

Royston continued her impressive sophomore campaign and clocked a new PR with a time of 22:02.3 to take eighth place overall, earning herself a spot on the All-Horizon League Second Team.

Just like they have all season, Milwaukee's next finishers all finished close together as their depth proved to be the difference Saturday.

Sophomore Meg Swietlik just missed a spot on the all-league team, taking 18^th overall with a solid time of 22:23.3. Shannon Dugan used a hard kick down the final straightaway to inch ahead of a Wright State runner by one-tenth of a second, finishing in 22:30.8 for 20^th place overall.

"This is why I came to Milwaukee – to win a title," Dugan said. "When I was a senior in high school, they took second at conference that year and I could see that this was a good program to come to. I gave it everything I had down that stretch today and I'm just so proud of what this team was able to do this year."

The final scoring spot went to sophomore Hailey Migliano, taking 28^th on the day with a solid time of 22:45.9. Senior Nicole Hohn was right by her side at 22:47.7 for 29^th and sophomore Emily Sass rounded out the top seven with an outstanding showing in 22:56.4 – four-tenths of a second shy of her personal best.

After the women's race, the Panther men capped the busy day by bringing home the league's runner-up trophy in a truly outstanding day for the program.

"Moving forward, the precedent is now set," Reilly said. "I think the team is excited about the future – this season for indoor and outdoor track – but also for the future as a cross country program, as well."

Up next, the Panthers will head to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, hosted by Indiana State in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 9.

Milwaukee Finishers
Mikayla Fox - 21:39.8 - 2nd
Emily Royston - 22:02.3 - 8th
Meg Swietlik - 22:23.3 - 18th
Shannon Dugan - 22:30.8 - 20th
Hailey Migliano - 22:45.9 - 28th
Nicole Hohn - 22:47.7 - 29th
Emily Sass - 22:56.4 - 33rd
Megan Safranski - 23:15.8 - 39th
Erika Kisting - 23:21.7 - 41st
Lauren Peters - 23:34.3 - 48th
Brenda Hernandez - 23:41.9 - 51st
Alayna Franson - 23:51.2 - 55th
Becky Van Thiel - 24:00.3 - 58th
Ciara Kaderly - 24:17.9 - 70th
Taylor Douglas - 24:59.4 - 81st

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Players Mentioned

Taylor Douglas: Junior

Shannon Dugan: Senior

Mikayla Fox: Junior

Brenda Hernandez: Senior

Nicole Hohn: Senior

Ciara Kaderly-Blumer: Sophomore

Hailey Migliano: Sophomore

Lauren Peters: Senior

Emily Royston: Sophomore

Megan Safranski: Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Taylor Douglas
: Junior

Shannon Dugan
: Senior

Mikayla Fox
: Junior

Brenda Hernandez
: Senior

Nicole Hohn
: Senior

Ciara Kaderly-Blumer
: Sophomore

Hailey Migliano
: Sophomore

Lauren Peters
: Senior

Emily Royston
: Sophomore

Megan Safranski
: Sophomore