CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – On the second day of the Illinois Invitational, the Milwaukee men's track and field team finished fourth overall out of 12 competing teams, posting strong results in several events.
The Panthers totaled 89.5 points to finish fourth, just ahead of Eastern Illinois who was fifth with 85 points. Host school Illinois won the meet, tallying 169.5 points. Illinois State was second at 128 points.
The duo of
Aidan Sodemann and
Corey Thornton each recorded a new PR in the 3000m steeplechase. Sodemann finished second overall at 9:16.93 while Thornton was the runner to cross the line behind a time of 9:17.29.
Michael Gorman finished third in the 100m, running to an impressive time of 10.45 seconds. In the 110m hurdles,
Dane Nelson added points for Milwaukee with a seventh-place finish at 14.57 seconds.
In the 800m,
Hunter Krepline placed seventh with a time of 1:56.75.
Nate Griepentrog collected an 11th-place finish just two seconds behind at 1:58.11.
Caleb Anderson was the top finisher for Milwaukee in the 400m, placing eighth at 49.54 seconds.
Luke Rapisarda (50.41) and
Caleb Henry (50.54) were just one second behind and placed 13th and 16th, respectively.
"We definitely had some wind aided performances in the sprints, hurdles, and even in the triple jump," head coach
Andrew Basler said. "But it was still good to see some good marks and fast times. I thought our men's 400m runners ran well. Considering it was still windy, a bit more than yesterday, but I think they ran solid."
Gracien Jules led the throws team, setting a new PR in the shot put with a throw of 17.56m to finish fourth. The throw moves him up to third all-time on the Panthers top-10 list. Jules also placed fifth in the discus at 49.81m.
Caleb Rogalski placed tenth in the discus (45.98m) and 11th in the shot put (15.62m)
Obi Iwuagwu took home a third-place mark in the triple jump with a leap of 14.72m.
Will Mortimer also scored in the event at 13.66m for seventh.
In the high jump,
Bryant McLaughlin finished just outside the top eight, placing ninth at 1.90m.
While most of the team competed at the Illinois Invitational, the Panthers sent
Chandler Ellis to the Green & White Invite hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College. Ellis tallied a first-place finish in the 400m hurdles with a time of 59.29 seconds.
In the final meet before the Horizon League Outdoor Championships, Milwaukee will head to Valparaiso, Ind. for the Valparaiso Open next Saturday.
"Overall, I thought we had some good personal bests," Basler added. "Something to build upon as we inch closer to outdoor conference."
