YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – For the fourth consecutive season the Milwaukee men's track & field team took second at the Horizon League Outdoor Track & Field Championships contested at Youngstown State this weekend.
 
The Panthers ended the three-day event with 190 points and trailed champion Youngstown State's 252-point team score. The team's score was its highest point total since the 2021 championship, when the Panthers registered 196.3 points at that season's event.
 
"While we fell short of the team goal of bringing home a championship, I would say this has been the most fun championship that I have had the opportunity to coach at while at Milwaukee," said head coach Andrew Basler.
 
"Our student-athletes did an amazing job and just fed off of each other and really put themselves in a position to do well," Basler added. "In track & field there's lots of stuff out of our control, and all we can do is control the effort that we put in and how we react when things don't go well. Our team is good at being present in the moment in supporting each other, and I'm proud of them."
 
Basler continued, "I want to shout out the assistant coaches, without them the success of this team wouldn't be where it's at. They do an amazing job and care about our student-athletes the right way."
 
"We're on the cusp of something special here at Milwaukee and I think the team felt it this weekend more than any other weekend we competed," Basler concluded. "I think there is going to be a lot of motivation going into the offseason, and we're excited about what's going to happen next year."
 
On the day Milwaukee had three individual champions as Golden Cotton won his second-consecutive championship in the 200m dash, while the senior also won the 100m dash, in a come-from-behind effort to take home the title.
 
Milwaukee's third championship came from senior Caleb Henry, who continued his dominant weekend in the 400m dash with a time of 47.98, as he was the only athlete to post sub-48-second times in both the preliminaries and the finals.
 
Following the final events on Sunday, Milwaukee was presented with a trio of awards for their efforts as the Panther coaching staff, led by Andrew Basler was awarded as Co-Coach of the Year. Cotton was named Co-Most Outstanding Athlete in running events with his two victories, while Austin Wallace was named Co-Most Outstanding Athlete in field events as he won nine of the 10 events in the decathlon, and also had a second place showing in the long jump.
 
Day 3 Summary
Milwaukee had success throughout the weekend, including Sunday, as the Panthers had a lot of highlights in sprint events.
 
Cotton got his day going individually with a comeback effort in the 100m dash as he trailed early but erased the deficit and stormed to the finish line with a Milwaukee program record of 10.43, as he tied, set, and re-set the mark this spring campaign.
 
Cotton also defended his 200m dash title, won a year ago at a time of 21.77, by taking the sprint with a time of 21.13 on Sunday for his second individual victory on the day.
 
Henry rounded out Milwaukee's trifecta in sprints with a time of 47.98, just a shade slower than his personal-best mark set in the prelims on Saturday at 47.53. Henry cruised by the field with his closest competitor nearly a half-second behind his blazing pace.
 
With 30 points in the bank on the three events between Cotton and Henry, Milwaukee also picked up points in the 100m dash as EJ Kruse was fourth at 10.83, while Caleb Anderson recorded a seventh-place finish at 10.99. Zac Schmidt also took seventh in the 200m dash with a time of 49.89.
 
Cotton and Henry also had a hand in Milwaukee's pair of relays on Sunday, with Cotton competing in the 4x100m relay with Kruse, Isaac Dauffenbach and Anthony Kessler as the quartet took second place with a mark of 41.31.
 
Henry alongside Anderson, Schmidt and Dane Nelson had a third-place finish in the 4x400m relay with a 3:18.75, about three and a half seconds off the pace set by Oaklands foursome.
 
Nelson was Milwaukee's top finisher in both hurdle events for the as the junior took fourth in the 400m hurdles at a clip of 54.10, while also taking fourth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.51 as an improvement from his qualifying time on Saturday of 14.55.
 
Chris Hudnall was Milwaukee's other qualifier in the 110m hurdles, and the junior set a new career-best mark at 14.86 seconds as he finished fifth in the event just behind Nelson.
 
The Panthers had three more personal-best marks on the day including a pair in the triple jump as Will Mortimer capped off his top collegiate outdoor event with a personal-best jump of 14.19 meters after setting a personal-best mark in the long jump earlier in the weekend.
 
Bishop Bufford also had a career-best mark in the triple jump to cap off his rookie season with the team with a mark of 13.98 meters in the event as he finished in third just behind Mortimer.
 
Milwaukee's top performer in the high jump also set career-best mark as Caden Thomas cleared 2.00 meters, as he finished third in the field of field of 15. Bryant McLaughlin was 10th at 1.89 meters, while Chris Dobbie was 11th at 1.84 meters.
 
The Panthers final two contributors for Milwaukee's point total came in distance and middle-distance, as Trevor Wenzel recorded a time of 14:40.58 in the 5000m run to take third as he chipped in another six points following his third-place effort on Friday in the 10,000m run. Nate Griepentrog took seventh in the 800m as he clocked in at 1:57.63.
 
Up Next
With several student-athletes close to qualification for the NCAA West preliminary rounds, Milwaukee is likely to add a 'Last Chance' Meet next weekend. While a decision has not been made, fans are encouraged to check back to MKEPanthers.com for the latest schedule updates.