LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Milwaukee women's track & field team won seven events individually on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-La Crosse.
 
In addition to the seven victories, Milwaukee's squad also registered 11 new personal bests among 10 competitors on the roster.
 
"We took some strides forward in areas that we were looking to do that in," said head coach Andrew Basler after the meet.
 
Natalie Block led Milwaukee with two wins on the day, picking up the win in the 200m with a time of 24.93, while also securing a win in the 60m hurdles at 8.43 after qualifying with a time of 8.45 in the prelims.
 
"Women's middle-distance ran well today, Brittany Helm and Emily Burns put themselves in a good position to be able to do some good things at the conference meet," said Basler. "Our 800m group for the women took first through third and I'm really excited for the path that they're currently trending on."
 
"Our women's side also saw a couple of our freshman run really well today in the 400m, notably Leah Handshoe and Katie Burns," added Basler.
 
Dominique Thomas was third in the 200m at 25.33, while Handshoe crossed the line in third position in the 400m with a time of 59.35 for a personal-best time.
 
The Panthers had a pair of wins in distance events as Anelise Egge took first in the 800m with a time of 2:18.20, leading to a Panther sweep as Rachel Helm was second at 2:19.13 and Ally Schmitz was third at 2:19.45. B. Helm won the mile at 5:10.27, while E. Burns was third in the mile at 5:16.21.
 
Brooke Crosby with a 27.02 in the 200m to set a new PR, while K. Burns (1:00.02) and Aiyana Knight (1:00.93) also had PRs in the 400m.
 
Four distance events saw new career-bests for the Panthers as Egge (2:18.20), R. Helm (2:19.13), and Ally Schmitz (2:19.45) all had new bests in the 800m, while Madison Franseen had a new career-best in the mile at 5:40.28.
 
Kortnie Volk competed in both track and field events, and set personal bests in each, including a 9.76 in the 60m hurdles and a distance of 5.63 meters in the long jump.
 
"Our women's long jumpers did really well and showed some promise for some bigger marks moving forward," Bassler commented on the team's day in field events. "The whole pole vault group did well, Kate Watson had yet another chance at the school record in the pole vault and Isabel Roloff had yet another PR, the group as a whole has been really consistent this year which has been awesome to see."
 
Milwaukee notched three more wins in field events as Watson once again led the field in the pole vault at 3.86 meters, while Nadia Vo and Kortnie Volk were in a tie for first in the long jump equaling one another with distances of 5.63m. In the shot put it was Tabitha Wechlo to lead the field with a toss of 14.24 meters.
 
Rounding out the top performances of the day in field events were a trio of third-place finishes as Macy Woodward took third in the high jump at 1.59 meters, with Maddy Troy third in the long jump at 5.58 meters. Adaline Powell took home the third-place finish in the triple jump at an 11.52-meter leap.
 
Roloff had a personal-best in the pole vault at a height of 3.56 meters.
 
"Overall, it was another good trip," Bassler added. "Next week we'll be taking the squad out to Grand Valley State to get on a 300-meter track and hopefully continue to take those final steps we're looking to take before we gear up for the Horizon League championships." Milwaukee will be at Grand Valley State on Friday morning for a 9 a.m. start in Allendale, Michigan.