ALLENDALE, Mich. – It was another historic day for the Milwaukee men's track & field program as the Panthers set a pair of program records at the Grand Valley Big Meet Friday.
 
Golden Cotton shattered the record in the 60m dash as he posted the first-ever sub-6.80 time with a time of 6.79 in the finals as he took second place. The previous Panther record was Michael Gorman in 2021 with a 6.85. Cotton's previous best was a 6.86 on several occasions in his career.
 
In addition to Cotton's record, Trevor Wenzel set a new program record in the 5000m with a time of 14:25.31, which took down the previous mark of 14:26.03, which had stood since the 1985 campaign, predating Milwaukee's Division I era.
 
"Today was a successful day for us, especially on the track", said head coach Andrew Basler. "We had a lot of positives on the track as Golden [Cotton] was extremely consistent and Trevor [Wenzel] setting a record that had stood for 38 years."
 
Cotton finished second in the 60m dash, finishing just shy of picking up the win for the Panthers.
 
Wenzel took third in the 500m run, finishing just six seconds off the leader, who finished with a time of 14:19.26.
 
Austin Wallace continued his success in the 60m hurdles, qualifying with an 8.12 before breaking the eight-second mark with a 7.96 in the finals for a third-place finish, which was also a personal-best time for the senior.
 
Will Mortimer won the long jump by 0.16 meters as he cleared a distance of 6.44 meters to win the event.
 
Anthony Kessler was second in the 200m dash early section with a 22.19, while Caleb Anderson had a third-place finish in the 400m dash early section.
 
In addition to Cotton, Wallace, and Wenzel setting personal bests, Kessler's time in the 200m dash was also a career-best time. Kessler had another personal record with a 22.19 in the 60m dash as well.
 
Three additional personal records fell as Nate Griepentrog had a 1:55.29 in the 800m; while Aidan Sodemann (4:21.87) and Carter Eckhoff (4:21.01) in the mile both set new career benchmarks.
 
Milwaukee returns home next weekend, when the Panthers host the Panther Tune-Up on Saturday, February 18 beginning at 10:00 a.m. from the Klotsche Center.