FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Milwaukee women's track & field program narrowly missed out on a Horizon League Championship on Sunday afternoon, falling by just four points out from the top spot as the Panthers finished as runner up at the event hosted by Purdue Fort Wayne at the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse.
 
"We knew for the first time in a few years that our women had a strong chance at taking home a championship, and we knew it wasn't going to be easy," said head coach Andrew Basler. "I could call out so many of these individuals on this team that did extremely well, but I'm just proud of everyone on this team. I couldn't be prouder of how they competed. While today does sting, hopefully it will allow us to refocus our energy and we can change some habits to where we're not falling short of our goals."
 
The Panthers ended the championship with 178 points, falling shy of the 182 points held by Youngstown State as Milwaukee was in search of its first conference championship since the 2012 season. MKE led after the opening day of the Championship on Saturday, and well into the day on Sunday but the lead slipped away late over the final few events on Sunday.
 
Milwaukee has won nine championships as a program and have not finished worse than third since the 1996 season. The 178 points for the Panthers was its highest point total ever and was its most since the team scored 174 at the 2010 championship. Four points is the second slimmest of margins that the Panthers fell in search of a league crown, as the 2015 team was just one-point short of a share of the indoor title that season.
 
Following the two-day Championship, Milwaukee's Lauren Lietzke was named Outstanding Field Performer, as she won both the weight throw on Saturday and the shot put on Sunday. Lietzke becomes the 12th Panther in program history to win the Outstanding Field Performer and second in as many years, as teammate Natalie Block took home the title a season ago.
 
Block also received hardware following her selection as the Alfreeda Goff Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year on Friday. The Athlete of the Year accolades are selected in advance of the Horizon League Championship meet, while all other awards are determined by results at Championships.
 
In addition to Lietzke's individual honor, head coach Andrew Basler was also named Co-Coach of the Year. It's the first selection of Basler's career with the Panthers, and first for a Panther head coach since Hall of Famer Pete Corfield earned his last of 10 women's indoor Coach of the Year honors in 2012.
 
Milwaukee won a total of three individual championships on the day, with Lietzke winning the shot put, and Natalie Block taking home the top-spot in both the 60-meter hurdles as well as the 400-meter dash. Block's time of 8.33 in the 60-meter hurdles was not only a program record for Milwaukee, but also a meet record by breaking the previous mark of 8.35 set back in both 2011 and 2012.
 
The field events started off with the high jump in the morning, with Annie Guerrero taking third with a jump of 1.65 meters, while Olivia VanZeeland and Nadia Vo were tied for sixth at 1.60 meters. In the triple jump Morgan Pilate led the Panthers with an 11.99-meter jump to finish in second place and secure eight points for the Panthers, while Adaline Powell set a new personal best with a 11.94-meter jump.
 
Lietzke took home the top spot in the shot put after winning the weight throw on Saturday, as she recorded a throw of 14.21 meters on Sunday. Tabitha Wechlo was second with a throw of 14.12 meters to help the Panthers take the top-two spots and 18 crucial points combined.
 
On the track Cailin Kinas opened things up in the mile with a time of 5:08.46 for a seventh-place finish.
 
Block registered the first of her two wins on the day in the 60m Hurdles as she broke her program record once again with a dominant showing with her record-setting time of 8.33. Cloey Fare was fourth with an 8.69 to add another five points on top of Block's 10.
 
In the ensuing event, Block notched her second win of the day with a time of 56.54 in the 400-meter dash, while Lead Handshoe grabbed the final point of the event with a time of 58.23. Dominique Thomas led the Panthers in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.54 as she took third in the event.
 
During the 800-meter run Anelise Egge was second with a time of 2:16.78; while Aubrey Anderson was seventh at 2:19.84. While Meg Swietlik was seventh with a 10:16.56, with Emily Burns one position back with a time of 10:17.94.
 
The day concluded with the 4x400 relay with Block, Kortnie Volk, Egge and Handshoe in line for the Panthers. It was a close race throughout the Panther heat, but ultimately MKE finished second with a 3:54.27, just over a half-second behind the leaders from Northern Kentucky.
 
Saturday Results
Milwaukee won three events highlighted by a record-setting performance by Kate Watson, who cleared 4.05 meters in the pole vault to set a new Horizon League Championship record, in addition to breaking her own program record in the event.
 
Lietzke won the weight throw at 16.96, while the women's distance medley team of as Alayna Franson, Ally Schmitz, Rachel Helm and Brittany Helm also recorded a time of 12:23.08 to earn the victory.
 
In the pentathlon Block was second as she totaled 3669 points in the multi-event.