VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Milwaukee women's track and field team competed at the Valparaiso Open on Saturday afternoon, tallying 12 individual victories and nine runner-up finishes at the meet, along with a school record.
Lauren Lietzke led the way with three individual victories, including breaking her own school record in the shot put with a throw of 14.85m. She also finished first with a personal best in the hammer throw (48.62) and won the discus (43.93m).
"We avoided some potential bad weather and ended up having a positive day," head coach Andrew Basler said. "I thought our women throwers had a really good day highlighted by Lauren Lietzke breaking her own school record in the shot put."
Samantha Satterfield was runner-up in both the discus (40.70m) and hammer (47.67) and placed third in the shot put at 14.12m. Tabitha Wechlo placed second behind Lietzke in the shot put (14.12) and tallied a third-place mark in the discus (38.85m).
Olivia Busch recorded a pair of first-place finishes, winning the triple jump (11.47m) and javelin (32.70m). Chieme Udaku finished second in the triple at 11.32m while Jada Schuh (28.46m) and Kortnie Volk (25.77) placed second and third, respectively, behind Busch in the javelin.
In the high jump, Annie Guerrero (1.60m) won the event while Volk finished second at 1.40m. Maddy Troy claimed victory in the long jump with a season-best 5.78m followed by Nadia Vo, who was second at 5.71m.
On the track, Dominique Thomas won the 100m with a season-best time of 12.06 seconds. Mercy Ndon (12.34) and Vanessa Laundrie (12.40) were right behind, claiming the next two spots in the event.
Milwaukee had the top three finishers in the 100m hurdles, led by Cloey Fare who crossed the line first at 14.63 seconds. Morgan Pilate was second at 14.86 with Brooke Crosby third at 14.89.
Sara Jochims posted a solid season-best time of 12:05.29 to win the steeplechase, while Kate Watson continued her impressive spring by winning the pole vault at 3.70m.
"Pretty impressed with Sara Jochims steeplechase performance," Basler said. "Pretty new to the event and running all by herself, she set a PR and continued to drop her time. I think that is a good confidence for the freshman looking to run the event at the championships next week."
Anya Athan finished at 26.02 seconds to win the 200m, while Kathryn Pecha was third at 26.08. Courtney Hoppe placed third in the 400m (1:00.33) while Madison Franseen was third in the 800m (2:24.75).
Cailin Kinas (4:49.95) and Brittany Helm (4:52.21) were the top two Milwaukee finishers in the 1500, placing third and fourth.
The Panthers head to Rochester, Michigan for the Horizon League Championship next weekend. The three-day meet is scheduled to begin Friday, May 6 at 11 a.m. and conclude on Sunday, May 8.
