MILWAUKEE – In closing out the regular season schedule for the indoor season, the Milwaukee men's track & field program put forth their best efforts in attempts for final preparation work at this weekend's Panther Tune-Up hosted inside the Klotsche Center.
 
The Panthers won nine events on the day of the 14 events contested, as the Panthers flexed their ability against a strong contingent of local competition.
 
Winning two events apiece were EJ Kruse in sprints and Caleb Rogalski in throws, while Gavin Czarnecki and Carter Eckhoff won distance events. Nick Hottinger was first in the 60m hurdles, while Austin Wallace cruised to a long jump victory and Dylan Sieloff took home the win in the pole vault.
 
In sprint action it was Kruse to pick up the win in the 60m dash with a time of 7.05; Isaac Dauffenbach took second in the event as he was just off the pace at with a personal-best time of 7.05. Kruse continued to his winning ways with a time of 22.36 in the 200m dash; the times were both personal records in the 60m and 200m dash.
 
Rogalski edged out teammate Gracien Jules in the shot put, as Rogalski had a toss of 16.14 meters with Jules registering a 16.00-meter throw. Rogalski also took home the top spot in the weight throw, with a 17.62-meter toss, as he eclipsed second-place Finnegan Shields, who was second at 12.87 meters. Rogalski defended home turf all indoor season with wins in both events at both the John Tierney Classic and the Panther Tune-Up.
 
In the distance events, Czarnecki clocked in with a 1:59.30 in the 800m run for a new personal-best and his first career individual win, while Eckhoff won the mile with a new PR of 4:18.41 while also notching his first career win. Following Eckhoff was teammate Aidan Sodemann, who finished the mile in second position with a 4:19.55 for a new PR and his third top-three finish in the mile this season.
 
Hottinger ran the 60m hurdles and won with his time of 9.10 seconds, for his first career win in the event.
 
Wallace cleared 7.80 meters in the long jump, with no other competitor making it past 6.90 meters of those that recorded distances, as he set a new meet record for the Panther Tune-Up, which was previously 7.46 set back in 2017. For Wallace, it was his fourth win in the long jump this indoor season, including his heptathlon long jump in late January.
 
Sieloff secured another win in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.75 meters, improving from his last outing at 4.73 meters at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational.
 
Milwaukee also had two additional top-three finishes in field events as Anthony Campbell set a new personal-best as he cleared 2.05 meters in the high jump for second place, while Evan Bartelsen was second with a 4.60-meter clearance on the vault. Bishop Bufford was third in the triple jump at 13.73 meters and set a new personal-best in the process.
 
Rounding out the podium finishers on the day for the Panthers was Zac Schmidt with his first-ever top-three finish in the 400m dash with a time of 50.99.
 
Three other personal-bests were secured on Saturday, including a pair in the 800m run as Wade Duffek picked up a time of 2:02.19; while Sam Schreiber tallied his second top-five finish this season in the 800m with a time of 2:02.24.
 
Chris Dobbie also picked up a PR in the triple jump at 13.06 meters, which was good enough for fifth place on the day.
 
Milwaukee will rest up for the Horizon League Championship, set to begin next Saturday in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The two-day event will culminate with the men's and women's indoor track & field championships on Sunday afternoon.