MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Milwaukee men's track and field team finished first at the Warrior Invite on Thursday afternoon, using a strong collective team effort against a field of 20 schools.
The Panthers finished with 114 points to win the meet, finishing ahead of second-place Carroll who scored 98. Carthage (97 points) and MSOE (96) finished right behind for third and fourth.
Bryce Tome was one of five Milwaukee runners to score in the 1500m. He finished first in the event with a time of 4:04.15 while
Trevor Wenzel placed second at 4:04.79. Joshua Freitag (4:10.16),
Hunter Krepline (4:10.18), and Daniel Browne (4:10.80) all finished within a second of each other for fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively.
The throws team had a strong performance even while battling the conditions, as
Caleb Rogalski finished first in the hammer with a throw of 53.85m.
Gracien Jules placed third in the event at 50.96m. In the discus, Jules (48.66m) and Rogalski (48.04m) placed back-to-back for third and fourth, while Finnegan Shield was eighth at 42.64m.
"We faced less than ideal conditions with 25mph winds and feel-like temps in the mid-30's," head coach
Andrew Basler. "But that's outdoor track. I felt like everybody who lined up to compete did so with intention and didn't allow the weather to deter their efforts."
Four more Panthers scored in the javelin, led by
Brett Clevidence who finished second with a throw of 46.91m.
Matthew Bye placed third at 46.22m and Sam Rodmyre was fourth at 44.44m.
Charlie Ellenbecker added points in the event as well, finishing seventh at 40.95m.
Caleb Henry finished runner-up in the 400m with a time of 51.83 seconds. In the 200m,
EJ Kruse and
Luke Rapisarda both crossed the line at 22.51 seconds for third and fourth.
Gavin Czarnecki took seventh in the 800m with a time of 2:02.74.
Bye scored in the long jump, placing third at 6.30m while
Will Mortimer tallied a third-place finish in the triple jump at 13.39m.
The 4x100m relay team of
Caleb Anderson,
Golden Cotton,
Michael Gorman, and Jamynk Jackson finished first, posting a time of 42.34 seconds.
The Panthers will be busy next weekend, competing at a trio of meets. Select athletes will be at the Gibson Multi Invitational hosted by Indiana State on Thursday, April 21 and Friday, April 22. Others will travel to Urbana-Champaign, Ill. for the two-day Illinois Invitational starting on Friday, and the rest of the team will return to Wisconsin Lutheran College for the Green & White Invite on Saturday.
