AZUSA – Natalie Block broke Milwaukee's 400m hurdle record today as a group of Panthers competed at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California. Back in the Midwest, another Milwaukee track & field group competed in Illinois at the Gary Wieneke Memorial meet.
 
Azusa:
 
Block smashed her program record in the 400m hurdles, running a time of 58.67 seconds and earning third place at the meet. Block also took fourth in the 100m hurdles, recording a time of 13.52 seconds.
 
Anelise Egge improved her standings on Milwaukee's top-ten list for the 1500m run by recording a time of 4:32.16, moving up to fourth on the list.
 
"It was a mixed bag of results, which can be expected when you're traveling this far for a meet," head coach Andrew Basler said. "You never know what you're going to get for weather or what kind of conditions you'll have, but I thought the group performed well."
 
"It was good to see a lot of different competition and to also have some of that travel that we're not quite used to yet."
 
Illinois:
 
Will Mortimer earned Milwaukee's lone event win of the meet, topping the field in the triple jump with a distance of 14.74m (48'4.5"). The distance ties him for eighth on the all-time Milwaukee top ten.
 
Mortimer also grabbed a seventh place finish in the long jump with a mark of 7.23m (23'8.75"), placing him at seventh on Milwaukee's all-time list. Liam Richards followed close behind in eighth with a jump of 7.18m (23'6.75"), which puts him at ninth all time.
 
"I think a lot of our athletes took some good steps forward and performed really well today at the Illinois meet," Basler said. " Will (Mortimer) is really rounding out at the right time in his career, just a couple weeks out from the Horizon League Championships, so that was good to see."
 
"I thought the throws group had a good day on both sides, and we saw a couple PR's as well. This trip was exactly what we were looking for as a team."
 
Tabitha Wechlo earned second place in the shot put, throwing a distance of 14.38m (47'2.25"). Finnegan Shields, Jeremiah Johnson, and Jack Misky all recorded PR's across the various throwing events as well.
 
Dane Nelson took fifth in the 110m hurdles, running the ninth fastest time in program history at 14.42 seconds.
 
"I though (Jaelyn Reeves-Lile) had a really good day in both the 100m and 200m," Basler commented. "He's really improved a lot since indoor season and he's starting to get that confidence that he needs."
 
Reeves-Lile recorded a PR in the 100m, finishing 12^th in 10.77 seconds, while also finishing tenth in the 200m at 21.78 seconds.
 
The Panthers will be back in action next Thursday at the Gibson Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana. The meet will run through Saturday, April 20. Milwaukee will also send athletes to the Green & White Invite hosted by Wisconsin Lutheran College on the 20^th.