CHICAGO, Ill. –
Natalie Block and
Kate Watson each set a new school record to lead the Milwaukee women's track and field team at Saturday's Midwest Invite.
"I thought it was a solid way to pick up where we left off at our December meet," head coach Andrew Basler said. "Overall, we saw some good effort and good execution. With every meet we get now, we are going to get a little better as we get those competitive reps."
Block raced to a school record time of 38.67 seconds in the 300-meter dash, taking down Gloria Gregory's time of 38.93 from 1985.
Watson reached 3.97 meters in the pole vault, topping her previous best and taking down Joy VanLaanen's 2006 mark of 3.95 meters.
"It was a great jump by her, and she's been working really hard this summer to get back where she left off as an NCAA first round qualifier," Basler commented. "In the 300-meter, I thought Natalie competed really well to get the school record."
Block also placed second in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.45 seconds. Enne Burton (8.83 seconds) and
Cloey Fare (9.00) also reached the finals for MKE in the event.
Milwaukee also found success in other field events including the high jump, where
Annie Guerrero led a group of five MKE jumpers with a height of 1.71 meters which placed her third.
Macy Woodward (4
th, 1.56 meters) and
Olivia VanZeeland (5th, 1.56 meters) followed.
In the long jump, the Panthers had three in the top five led by
Kortnie Volk's mark of 5.51 meters.
Maddy Troy placed fourth with a 5.48-meter jump followed by
Nadia Vo's 5.46-meter leap.
Morgan Pilate recorded a fourth-place finish in the triple jump, reaching 11.43 meters on her fifth attempt.
Tabitha Wechlo led the charge in the shot put with a throw of 13.65 meters while
Lauren Lietzke's toss of 15.50 meters in the weight throw was the Panthers' top mark.
On the track,
Dominique Thomas reached the finals in the 60-meter dash and crossed in 7.61 seconds to place seventh. Thomas also finished 12th in the 300-meter dash with a time of 41.43.
Anelise Egge led a group of four Panthers in the 800-meter run with a third-place finish of 2:19.01.
In the mile,
Eileen Tocco crossed in 5:02.10 which puts her eighth on the Panthers' top-10 all-time list.
"Overall, a pretty solid meet. We learned a lot about things we need to work on to move forward. We're excited to get to our home meet next week."
The Panthers will next host the Tierney Classic on Saturday, January 21. The event kicks off at 10:00 am from the Klotsche Center.
