ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Milwaukee women's track & field team wrapped up Horizon League Outdoor Championship action Sunday.
 
The Panthers finished as runners-up at the end of the three-day championship, totaling 163.5 points and coming up just 8.5 points shy of Youngstown State's winning total of 172. The margin was the slimmest for Milwaukee at the Horizon League Women's Outdoor Championships since 2015.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of our team for how they closed out the championships today," said head coach Andrew Basler. "On the outside, people will see the women had a lead going into today and fell short. But on paper, we were projected to fall short by 50 points. Our ladies stepped up today and swung a lot of points in our favor."
 
"Emma had a monster win in the pole vault, an event that swung 20 points in our favor. Our lady high jumpers and triple jumpers scored big points, which helped us stay in championship contention until the end. On the track, our hurdlers came up big in the 100-meter hurdles to claim 17 team points. Obviously, the goal is getting that championship back to Milwaukee, but these ladies have nothing to hang their head for."
 
Milwaukee earned two of the post-meet specialty awards, with Kallie Volk being honored as the Women's Championship Outstanding Performer/Field, and Nevia Levenhagen secured Women's Freshman of the Year/Field honors.
 
The Panthers starred in the jumping events, earning 79.5 points across the long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault.
 
In Sunday's triple jump action, Anna Szepieniec got back to her winning ways with a title-earning leap of 12.13 meters. Her career-best effort currently ranks 10th in the Panther record books for the event. Adaline Powell and Volk were the next members of the Black & Gold on the podium, taking home third (11.84 meters) and fourth (11.84 meters) (PR), respectively. Levenhagen rounded out the point-earning performances for the team, earning sixth place (11.48 meters).
 
The pole vault was dominated by Emma Johnson, who won the event after jumping a career-best 3.92 meters. Her mark currently ranks fourth in Panther program history. Cracking the top five in the event was Hailey Soriaga, who cleared 3.67 meters. Tia Brennan found a spot on the podium as well, soaring over 3.52 meters for an eighth-place outing.
 
Olivia VanZeeland took home runner-up honors in the high jump after clearing 1.72 meters. Tying her season-best effort of 1.66 meters in the event was Volk, who earned fourth. Chloe Hedman had a breakout performance in the event, clearing a career-best 1.66 meters as well. Macy Woodward, Alexandria Simmons, and Lauren Wickus all cleared 1.61 meters for the Panthers.
 
Szepieniec also dominated in the 100-meter hurdles, crossing the line second with a time of 13.76. Victoria Spagnola and Brooke Crosby nearly ran identical times in the event to finish fourth (14.453) and fifth (14.455), respectively.
 
Spagnola continued her momentum into the 400-meter hurdles where she crossed the line third, running a personal-best time of 1:01.84. Crosby added a sixth-place effort in the event with her season-best 1:03.83 outing.
 
In the 4x100-meter relay, the team of Angelica Refinski, Isabel Roloff, Victoria Evtimov, and Katie Burns registered a runner-up finish, crossing the line in 46.57.
 
Running a personal-best time of 4:46.60 in the 1500-meter run was Janiyah Taylor, who secured a spot in the top-10 of the finals.
 
In the 400-meter run, Burns took home third place after running a season-best time of 54.77. She saw the same outcome in the 200-meter dash, clocking a time of 24.58.
 
Nolie Anderson was the top Panther finisher in the hammer throw, hurling a personal-best 46.00 meters to finish eighth. Merecedes Herrera also competed in the event, throwing 42.78 meters.
 
Lauren Ripley represented Milwaukee in the 800-meter finals, turning in a time of 2:20.52 to finish seventh.
 
The 5000-meter run was highlighted by Anna Gallagher who ran a season-best time of 18:27.10.
 
In the last event of the day, the squad of Taylor Thimmesch, Evtimov, Spagnola, and Burns put together a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay, clocking a time of 3:46.53.
 
"I challenged the team on Thursday night to go into this weekend without leaving anything undone," said Basler. "Not their effort. Not their support of each other. Not their focus. They did a great job leaving everything out there for each other."
 
Basler concluded by saying, "I want to acknowledge my coaching staff… Coaches Schultz, Hatch, Howard, Schmidt, Rogalski, Campbell, and Johnson. They do an amazing job working with our team and mentoring them. We will now turn our attention to growing the group of athletes who already achieved marks that will get them to the NCAA West Prelims."
 
UP NEXT
 
The Panthers look ahead to the UW-La Crosse Final Qualifier hosted at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex on Thursday, May 14.