CARMEL, Ind. – For the second time in three years, the Milwaukee women's cross country team was crowned Horizon League Champions, Thursday, after a complete team effort at IUPUI's Northview Church Course.
 
Milwaukee finished the meet with 58 points for first place. Oakland came in second, also with 58 points, but the Black & Gold earned the top spot in the head-to-head tie breaker. IUPUI (101), Youngstown State (103), Northern Kentucky (127), Wright State(169), Detroit Mercy (180), Purdue Fort Wayne (194), UIC (203), Cleveland State (254), and Green Bay (285) rounded out this year's scoring.
 
"I'm really proud of both the men's and women's teams and how they were both mentally and physically able to prepare not only for indoor (track and field) season, but know that they had to get through indoor and turn around within three days and run a cross country race," Milwaukee cross country coach Jake Reilly said. "The mental fitness, the physical preparation, and positive and excited outlook about racing is a huge testament to where the team is at and where it's going."
 
Fresh off being crowned the Horizon League Indoor Athlete of the Year last week, senior Meg Swietlik continued her dominance with an impressive run to another league title, breaking the tape in 21:33.3 - a full 25 seconds ahead of the next runner. Swietlik is the first league champion for Milwaukee since Leah Holmes in 2015, and is the first MKE female in Division-I history to qualify for Nationals. The Elm Grove (Wis.) native was also voted the Horizon League Athlete of the Year by the league's 11 coaches following today's run, and was named to the Women's All-League First Team.
 

With a time of 21:33.3 
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Everyone, Meg Swietlik.
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👑Champion👑 pic.twitter.com/UCGXrYhUoZ
— Milwaukee TFXC (@MKE_TFXC) March 4, 2021
 

 
Senior Mikayla Fox made a successful return for her redshirt senior season and was right behind Swietlik to finish as league runner-up with a time of 21:58.6. This marks the second time in three years the Oak Creek native finished second at the league meet and is also the third time Fox has finished First-Team All-League – a program first.
 
Jake Reilly, in just his third year coaching the Milwaukee women's program, was named Women's Coach of the Year – his second time earning the award.
 
In a full team effort, Milwaukee's next finishers all finished close together.
 
"Having Meg and Mikayla go 1-2 was huge towards the team title, but you also have to look a runners three through seven, as well, because cross country is a team sport," Reilly said. Without Emily (Sass) and Brittany (Helm), there's no way (Emily) Burns and (Hailey) Migliano are able to put themselves in a position to help the team score and end up winning the team."
 
Sophomore Emily Burns just also earned a spot on the all-league team, taking 11^th overall for second-team honors with an impressive time of 23:01.6. Seniors Hailey Migliano and Emily Sass rounded out the scoring for the Panthers with solid times of 23:26.0 and 23:45.6, taking 19^th and 25^th places, respectively.
 
Freshman Brittany Helm made her collegiate cross country debut with an impressive run, finishing 31^st and crossing the line at 23:57.8, while Riley Hansen finished in at 24:52.2 for 48^th.
 
In earning the team title, the Panthers are eligible for the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled to run March 15^th in Stillwater, Okla., and the campus of Oklahoma State. The field will be announced this Sunday, March 7^th, with a selection show that is scheduled to air at 12 p.m. Central on NCAA.com.