CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Milwaukee women's track and field team wrapped up the Illinois Invitational on Saturday, placing fourth out of 15 teams and setting several PRs in the process.
 
The Panthers totaled 90 points for fourth, finishing just 8.5 points behind third-place Southern Illinois. Host school Illinois won the meet with 173.5 points, while Illinois State was second with 113.5 points.
 
Kate Watson shattered her previous personal record on the pole vault, winning the event at 4.03m. The mark pushes her up to second on the Panthers top-10 list and just 0.3m shy of the program record.
 
"I think the biggest highlight was Kate Watson's pole vault," head coach Andrew Basler said. "She has been knocking on the door of clearing 13 feet for quite a while and she was able to hit 4.03m on her third attempt."
 
In the windy conditions, Milwaukee posted several strong results in the triple jump. Morgan Pilate won the event with a leap of 12.15m, while Chieme Udaku placed second at 11.91m. Olivia Busch (11.24m) and Aubrie Gorski (10.91m) finished ninth and tenth in the event.
 
Lauren Lietzke led the throws team, recording a PR in the discus at 44.26m and finishing fifth overall. She later tallied a fourth-place mark in the shot put at 14.36m. Tabitha Wechlo finished just outside the top eight in the shot put, taking ninth at 13.30m.
 
Annie Guerrero placed third in the high jump at 1.65m. Nadia Vo added points, coming in at 1.55m to grab eighth place.
 
On the track, the 800m duo of Aubrey Anderson and Riley Hansen posted impressive times. Anderson crossed the line for fifth at 2:18.81 while Hansen was just a couple seconds behind at 2:20.10 for seventh.
 
In the 100m, Maddy Troy scored for the Panthers, placing sixth at 11.94 seconds. Mercy Ndon (12.01) and Vanessa Laundrie (12.06) placed ninth and tenth, respectively.
 
Milwaukee had three score in the 3000m steeplechase, led by Eileen Tocco who finished fifth at 11:21.89. Alayna Franson was right behind for sixth at 11:23.01 and Sara Jochims was eighth at 12:13.30, and both recorded season-best times.
 
Brooke Crosby placed eighth in the 100m hurdles, posting a time of 14.41 seconds.
 
The Panthers 4x100m relay team of Anya Athan, Vanessa Laundrie, Kathryn Pecha, and Mercy Ndon took home a fourth-place finish with a time of 49.06 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."