MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Milwaukee women’s track & field team competed in its first 2026 competition at the Minnesota Open on Saturday.
 
“The first meet back from winter break always has a mixed bag of results,” said head coach Andrew Basler. “I think most college track coaches would agree that there are challenges losing your team for 2-3 weeks for winter break after spending all fall preparing.” From an effort standpoint, I was happy with what I saw across all events,”
 
Anna Szepieniec picked up right where she left off in 2025, securing a first-place victory in the 60-meter hurdles (8.67).
 
In the 200-meter dash, Szepieniec finished third, clocking a time of 25.39. Katie Burns was right behind her in fourth, crossing the threshold in 25.58. Victoria Evtimov was the third Panther in the top five, securing fifth with a time of 25.68.
 

The Black & Gold swept the podium in the 1-mile race, with Janiyah Taylor (5:22.51) taking the crown followed by Lauren Ripley (5:23.89) and Rohan Flanagan (5:40.25).
 
“Women’s vertical jumps were strong events for us today,” added Basler. “In high jump, after winning the event with a 1.73m clearance, Olivia took 3 good attempts at a school record height of 1.80m. Macy also had a breakthrough jump clearing 1.65m on her first attempt.”
 
Olivia VanZeeland has gone two for two in her high jump appearances this season, finishing first in both outings. VanZeeland cleared 1.73m at the meet held in the Minnesota Fieldhouse, which currently ranks 46th in the NCAA.
 

Success continued for the Black & Gold in the high jump, with Macy Woodward securing a new personal best, jumping 1.65m to finish in fourth for Milwaukee.
 
“In pole vault, our ladies showed the depth we have in that event. Hailey and Emma led the way with solid season opening performances,” Basler said.
 
The pole vault duo of Hailey Soriaga and Emma Johnson turned in successful season-opening outings. Soriaga tied for second with a 3.71m effort and Johnson was not far behind, jumping 3.56m to secure fourth.
 
“We look forward to a focused week of training as we prepare for the Tierney Classic on Sunday, January 18,” Basler concluded.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Panthers will host the annual Tierney Classic in the Klotsche Center on Saturday, January 18. Events will begin at 10:00 a.m.
 

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Milwaukee men’s track & field team competed in the Minnesota Open hosted by the University of Minnesota on Saturday in its first meet of 2026.
 
“The first meet back from winter break always has a mixed bag of results,” said head coach Andrew Basler. “I think most college track coaches would agree that there are challenges losing your team for 2-3 weeks for winter break after spending all fall preparing.”
 

The Panthers recorded three podium sweeps on the day, all coming in running events. Four different members of the Black & Gold notched first-place performances as well.
 
In the field, Kyril Griffin provided Milwaukee with an immediate spark to open the day. The sophomore cleared 14.24 meters in the triple jump, earning a second-place finish at the meet hosted inside the Minnesota Fieldhouse. Griffin continued his strong performance in the long jump, where he secured third place with a mark of 6.84 meters. The effort made him the top Panther finisher in the event and marked a new career-best.
 
Ty Bauschelt added to his impressive freshman campaign, taking home third place finishes in the high jump (1.95m) and the 400-meter dash (50.78).
 

The success of the freshmen continued for the Black & Gold with Brendan Vlasak turning in a second-place outing in the 60-meter hurdles. Vlasak clocked a time of 8.47.
 
In the 1-mile race, Harper Fahey (4:23.95), Will Whiteis (4:25.02), and Sam Blascyk (4:42.81) swept the podium going 1,2, and 3. Also claiming the top three podium positions were Zac Schmidt (22.63), Matt Scardina (22.91), and Mason Weaver (23.05) in the 200-meter dash, as well as Alex Anewenter (8:55.67), Aidan Sosnowski (9:02.69), Will Perez (9:41.67) in the 3000-meter run.
 
In the 800-meter dash, Lucas Picco crossed the finish line first in 1:55.64, securing his second first-place finish of the indoor season.
 
“From an effort standpoint, I was happy with what I saw across all events. We look forward to a focused week of training as we prepare for the Tierney Classic on Sunday, January 18,” Basler concluded.
 
UP NEXT

Milwaukee will take a week-long break from competition before returning to action at the annual Tierney Classic, hosted by the Panthers at the Klotsche Center. Events are scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.

 

MIDDLETOWN, CT. –  The Wesleyan men’s track and field team opened the 2026 portion of the season at home on Saturday, hosting the Wesleyan Indoor Invite I as the team was led by Alex Kermath ’26 and Bruce Lenes ’26 with first place finishes from inside the Bacon Field House.

RESULTS

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Lenes was a first-place finish in the men’s 1,000m, crossing the finish line with a time of 2:35.73. Placing second was Calum Madigan ’29, running a final 2:47.42.
• Kermath claimed his top finish in the 3,000m event, finishing with a clocked time of 8:43.90. Placing third was Will Wise ’26 with an 8:51.14.
• In the mile, Zach Allen ’27 placed second, finishing at 4:27.98 while Noah Mahoney ’27 finished at 4:30.56 in third place.
• Rami Hayes-Messinger ’26 was a top qualifier in the field events, placing sixth in the weight throw with a final distance of 14.81m.

The Cardinals return to action on Friday, Jan. 16, when they take on the NYC Gotham Cup.
 

MIDDLETOWN, CT. – Playing host to the Wesleyan Indoor Invite as the first event of the new year, the Wesleyan women’s track and field team saw several top performances as the team was led by Juliette Sullivan ’27 from the Bacon Field House.

RESULTS

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Sullivan nabbed second place in the first track event of the day, clocking in at 7.97 in the 60m dash. Sullivan followed up her performance in the 200m dash, taking first place as she crossed the finish line at 25/97.
• Kaitlyn Connors ’29 won the women’s mile, finishing just over five minutes with a 5:15.02 final.
• The Cardinals dominated the 3,000m, finishing with six in the Top 10. Alexandra Simon ’27 led the pack, placing second at 10:43.25. Clare Mahedy ’29 followed to round out the Top 3 with a time of 10:46.58. Margaret Stevens ’27 placed fourth (10:47.19), Nadia Lim ’26 was fifth (11:01.75), Audrey Leff ’29 placed sixth (11:06.49), and Grace Bell ’28 was ninth (11:44.61)
• In the 1,000m, Genevieve Minard ’28 took third place, tracking in with a time of 3:04.97.
• At pole vault, Kess Benner placed second with a height of 2.75m.
• The triple jump saw Alex Neubert ’29 place second with a distance of 10.95m. Katherine Goss ’29 was third at 10.87m.

The Cardinals return to action on Friday, Jan. 10, when they travel to Staten Island for the NYC Gotham Cup.
 

The field events started the competition, where the Mountain Hawks had a few top performances. Senior Grace Aggen was Lehigh’s top performing thrower, where she led Lehigh in both events. Her best performance was in the shot put, where she threw 13.11 meters to place fifth. She also threw 13.38 meters in the weight throw, placing 15th. The Mountain Hawks had two other top five field finishes. The first was in the high jump, where sophomore Anna Troutman jumped 1.67 meters to earn fifth place. Senior Laura Reigle leaped 3.77 meters in the pole vault to secure a three-way tie for third. Senior Grace Nation may not have had the highest placing day for the jumpers as she finished seventh in the long jump, however she had the best individual jumping performance of the day. Her 5.56-meter jump was not just a personal best, but moved her up to seventh place on Lehigh’s all-time indoor performance list.

Senior Grace Kennedy and sophomore Jade Sanders had excellent days in the sprinting events earning top finishes. Their best performances were in the 400 meter where they both placed top ten and posted top Division I times. Kennedy led the way, placing second and running 56.53. That mark was not just the 42nd fastest time run in Division I this year, but also the 55th best time in the entire NCAA. Sanders ran 57.60, which landed her in ninth place and was the 89th fastest Division I time this year. In the 200 meter, Kennedy led the way once again with a 25.60-second run, earning her ninth place. Sanders clocked in at 25.85, which was good for 12th place and was an indoor personal best. Close behind them was first-year Harper Glennon, who ran a collegiate best time of 25.99 to place 14th. Glennon was also Lehigh’s top finisher in the 60 meters, where she placed 16th (7.87).

The 800 meters also featured personal best performances. Sophomore Lauren Bower ran an indoor personal best time of 2:14.02. This performance was the 48th best time in the NCAA, and placed her at seventh in the meet. Senior Amber Barrios was just behind in ninth place. She finished in 2:16.24, which earned her the 84th best time in the NCAA this year.

Lehigh had two other top ten placements in the competition. First was first-year Lyssi Penn in the 60 meter hurdles, who’s 9.27-second run earned her ninth. Senior Dakota Russell also placed ninth in her event, she ran 10:21.79 over 3000 meters.

The Mountain Hawks also placed well in the 4×400-meter relay. The team of Barrios, Bower, first year Kayleigh Jamieson, and senior Corinn Brewer placed sixth by running 3:59.55.

Lehigh next competes next week, when the Mountain Hawks will split their squad. Some of the team will head back to Philadelphia to compete at the Quaker Invitational, while the others stay on campus to compete at the Moravian Blue and Grey Invite at Rauch Fieldhouse.

 

MILL SPRING, N.C. – The UNC Asheville Track and Field team kicked off the 2026 indoor season in impressive fashion on Saturday, breaking three school records at the season opener. The meet marked the first collegiate competition at Tryon International since the facility added the Mondo Super X 720 Indoor Track.

School Records Set

• Nkosi Jeju opened his season by winning the men’s long jump with a mark of 7.40 meters, surpassing his own previous school record of 7.34 meters set at last year’s Gamecock Opener.
• Kelechi Anyanwu made a memorable collegiate debut in the men’s 300m, finishing in 34.29 seconds to set a new school record. The previous mark of 34.74 seconds was held by Shemarr Session.
• Bennett Moreno also set a school record in his collegiate debut in the men’s 600m, taking third overall in 1:22.08. The previous record of 1:22.74 had stood since 1995.

Other long jump competitors included Elijah Able (4th, 6.82m), Aaron Higgins (6th, 6.78m), and Max Smydra (7th, 6.63m), with Able entering the record book at No. 5. Ty’Vell Foskey (7th, 35.47) and Demorris Jordan (10th, 35.83) also represented Asheville in the top-10 of the 300m. 

Top Individual Finishes

Women’s 1,000m

Women’s Weight Throw

Women’s Shot Put

Men’s Shot Put

Men’s Triple Jump

Women’s 300m

Women’s 600m

Men’s 60m Finals

Men’s 60m Hurdles

Men’s High Jump

Men’s 1,000m

Men’s Mile & 800m

Women’s Mile 

Women’s 800m

Men’s & Women’s 200m

Men’s & Women’s 3,000m

Men’s 400m

Relays

For a complete look at all of the results, click here. 

The Bulldogs will return to action at Tryon next weekend (Jan. 16-17) for the Tryon International Winter Invitational.

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