HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Milwaukee women's cross country team led by a third-place finish from junior Meg Swietlik, turned in a total of 10 personal records and three all-league honors at the 2019 Horizon League Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2 hosted by Northern Kentucky at the Valhalla Cross Country Course in Highland Heights, Ky. 
 
The Panthers finished third among the 10 league teams with 75 points, which was shy of Oakland and Youngstown State.
 
"First off, hats off to the IUPUI men and Oakland women for a really strong championship," head coach Andrew Basler said, "they showed up, ran extremely well and were difficult to beat."
 
Swietlik proved to be one of the best in the league after finishing third overall while nearly breaking the 20-minute mark (20:00.5). The junior turned in a personal record by almost a minute and a half to earn herself First-Team All-League honors for the first time in her career.
 
Continuing her outstanding young career, Emily Burns dropped almost a minute and 45 seconds to grab a big personal record of 22:49.1 to finish 11th overall while Megan Safranski also turned in a PR by a minute and 15 seconds to cross the line in 22:31.1 to take 14th. The junior made a huge jump today after taking 39th in last year's league meet.

Burns and Safranski earned themselves second-team all-league honors for the first time in both of their careers as well. 
 
Ciara Kaderly-Blumer and Madison Hughes rounded out scoring on the day while also shattering their personal records. After finishing 70th in last year's league meet, Kaderly-Blumer dropped well over two minutes to turn in a big PR of 23:50.1 for 23rd-place. Hughes grabbed a PR by over a minute to cross the line next for 24th-place.
 
Next for the Panthers was Riley Hansen in 26th-place and Erika Kisting in 33rd-place. Both Panthers dropped over a minute to cross the line in 21:49.4 and 22:09.0 respectively.
 
Not far behind was Alayna Franson who claimed 36th-place after dropping a minute and 10 seconds (22:10.7).
 
Additionally, Maddie Wood turned in a PR by nearly a minute (22:49.6) to finish 57th and Kyle Jansky grabbed a PR by a minute and a half (23:42.5) to take 71st while Emily Sass came in 66th (23:17.3) and Taylor Douglas finished in 81st-place (24:08.1).
 
"We are extremely proud of how the teams competed today," Basler added, "a goal is always to get some hardware, so we are disappointed there, but we got our eyes set on regionals coming up and seeing if we can continue to build on and finish the season strong. Overall we had a really good season and the promise of the future is great."
 
ON TAP
The Milwaukee Panthers will race again at the Great Lakes Regional Championships held in Madison, Wis. at the Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Friday, Nov. 15. The top two teams from each regional will automatically advance to the 2019 NCAA Cross
 

MILWAUKEE FINISHERS 
3. Meg Swietlik – 20:00.5
11. Emily Burns – 21:06.6
14. Megan Safranski – 21:12.0
23. Ciara Kaderly-Blumer – 21:36.8
24. Madison Hughes – 21:39.2
(26) Riley Hansen – 21:49.4
(33) Erika Kisting – 22:09.0
36. Alayna Franson – 22:10.7
57. Maddie Wood – 22:49.6
66. Emily Sass – 23:17.3
71. Kylie Jansky – 23:42.5
81. Taylor Douglas – 24:08.1
 
TEAM SCORES
Oakland – 47
Youngstown State – 56
Milwaukee – 75
Wright State -87
IUPUI -102
Northern Kentucky – 170
UIC – 173
Cleveland State – 214
Green Bay – 283
Detroit Mercy – 312