ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Milwaukee women's track & field team competed in the second day of the Horizon League Outdoor Championships hosted by Oakland at Elaine Leigh Track & Field Complex Saturday.
 
With one day of competition remaining, the team sits first with 52 points. Robert Morris is currently in second (46 points), while Purdue Fort Wayne rounds out the top three (44 points).
 
"The team showed a lot of resiliency today in some windy conditions," said head coach Andrew Basler. "We had a 90-minute weather delay, but I thought our team was mentally prepared to not let it derail their focus."
 
Nevia Levenhagen led the Panthers on day two with a monster finish in the long jump, winning the event after her outdoor personal-best 6.12-meter leap. Her mark ranks third in program history for the event. Anna Szepieniec finished runner-up with a 6.09-meter effort, and Kallie Volk chipped in a fourth-place outing, jumping a personal-best 5.93 meters.
 
In the Heptathlon, Szepieniec finished runner-up with 5130 points after an impressive day of events. She won the long jump after jumping 6.03 meters, finished third in the javelin after throwing 30.04 meters, and crossed the line first in the 800-meter running a 2:24.91.
 
Following close behind her was Volk, who collected 4609 points to earn third place. In her three events on Saturday, she finished third in the long jump (5.55 meters), fourth in the javelin (27.91 meters), and seventh in the 800-meter run (2:41.14).
 
Competing in her first Championship heptathlon was Kara Meeteer, who rose four spots in the standings from day one to day two. Her top performance came in the 800-meter run where she earned third, crossing the line in 2:33.93. She also earned fourth in the long jump, clearing 5.18 meters, and sixth in the javelin, hurling 25.70 meters.
 
Milwaukee will see three athletes battle in the 100-meter hurdle finals tomorrow. Szepieniec finished second running a 13.95, Victoria Spagnola secured fifth with a season-best time of 14.33, and Brooke Crosby claimed sixth with a 14.41 performance.
 
Spagnola also shined in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing runner-up and positioning herself well for the finals tomorrow. She turned in a time of 1:03.87. Crosby will also race tomorrow in the finals after finishing eighth in the prelims (1:05.63).
 
In the shot put, Adaline Powell threw a career-best 12.15 meters to finish as the top member of the Black & Gold in the event. Mercedes Herrera and Nolie Anderson added season-best outings, throwing 11.18 meters and 11.00 meters, respectively.
 
Heading into the 400-meter finals is Katie Burns after securing second place in the prelims. She clocked a time of 56.04, while Taylor Thimmesch cracked the top-10 with her 58.50 outing.
 
Burns will also compete in the 200-meter finals, where she ran a 24.93 to finish third in the prelims. Other members of the Black & Gold to race in the event included Angelica Refinski (25.43), Victoria Evtimov (25.94), and Lilly Wepking (27.02).
 
Refinski was the top Panther finisher in the 100-meter dash, clocking a time of 12.24.
 
In the 800-meter run, Lauren Ripley ran a 2:17.95 to finish eighth and advance to the finals. Ally Schmitz also competed in the event, registering a time of 2:20.98.
 
Recording a personal best in the 3000-meter steeplechase was Rylan Oberg, who clocked a time of 12:11.27.
 
"As we head into Championship Sunday, both the men and women are fighting for hardware," added Basler. "We got a lot of Panthers through to the finals in the running events, which is what you need to put points on the board on Sunday. I'm excited to watch this group leave it all out there."
 
UP NEXT
 
The Panthers prepare for the final day of the Horizon League Championships hosted by Oakland Sunday. The first events will begin at 9:00 a.m. CT and can be streamed on ESPN+.