MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Eight members of the Milwaukee track and field team were honored with a Horizon League All-Academic Team mention for the indoor season, announced by the league office Thursday afternoon.
 
The eight student-athletes represented marks the most by any school in the Horizon League. Kyra Arendt, Lauren Lietzke, and Meg Swietlik earned the honor on the women's side while Tony Bretall, Josh Freitag, Luke Rapisarda, Michael Sippy, and Trevor Wenzel were all named on the men's side.
 
To be eligible for the Horizon League All-Academic team, student-athletes must participate in 50 percent of the team's overall games, completed one year at the school, and have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
 
It marks the fifth all-academic team honor for Arendt, who owns a 3.975 GPA and graduated with a degree in film production. Arendt continued her dominance at the Horizon League Championships and won her third straight triple jump title. She also captured third place in the long jump.
 
Lietzke had a strong finish at the championships, finishing runner-up in the shot put with a personal-best throw of 14.06 meters which sits third in program history. The junior is working toward her degree in biomedical engineering and holds a 3.925 cumulative GPA.
 
Swietlik has a 3.812 GPA in her work toward a kinesiology degree and had another standout season on the track for the Panthers. The senior won all three events she competed in including the 5,000-meter race at the Horizon League Championships. Additionally, she set a new school record in the 5,000-meter event at the Panther Tune-Up, finishing in 16:41.28.
 
Earning his first honor is Bretall, who scored 10.5 points at the Horizon League Championships with a second-place finish in the heptathlon and sixth-place finish in the pole vault. Bretall is working toward his degree in music education and holds a 3.834 GPA.
 
With a 3.988 GPA, Freitag earned his first all-academic honor. The junior earned a runner-up finish at the home John Tierney Classic in the 3,000-meter race and also took fifth at the Panther Tune Up in the 5,000-meter.
 
Rapisarda collected his second all-academic nod behind a 4.0 GPA in finance. On the track, his year was highlighted by a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash at the Parkside Triangular as well as reaching the podium with the MKE 4x400-meter relay team at the Horizon League Championships.
 
Behind a 3.777 GPA in his work toward Information Science Technology, Sippy earned his third all-academic award. The senior won two races throughout the season and also earned silver in the 800-meter race at the Horizon League Championships.
 
Wenzel put together the best times for the Panthers in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races as he claimed two first-place finishes and a third-place mark at the Horizon League Championships. The junior is working toward his degree in Mechanical Engineering and holds a 3.904 GPA.