May 6, 2012

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Wauwatosa, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's track & field team won four events and shattered a league record en route to winning the Horizon League Outdoor Championships Sunday despite a four-hour rain delay at Wisconsin Lutheran College's Raabe Stadium.

This marks the 18th-straight league title by the Panthers, which stands as the longest active streak in the nation.

"We're very happy to keep the streak going and bring another championship to Milwaukee," Panther head coach Pete Corfeld said. "We have had some exceptional student athletes come through our program throughout the years that have built an impressive legacy and high expectations and the guys really lived up to that this weekend. Being able to host the championships, quite a few former athletes were on hand and it was nice for them to get to see that tradition continue."

After a four-hour rain delay to start the meet, the day's final event of the 4x400m relay was cancelled due to further severe weather, but Milwaukee was already well ahead.

The Panthers finished with 175 points. Youngstown State came in second at 108 and Loyola was third with 81. UIC finished fourth at 73, while Valparaiso (66), Butler (65) and Detroit (48) rounded out the scoring.

UWM dominated the day from start to finish, most notably in their hurdle events. In the 110m hurdles, the Panthers took the four top spots to build on an already seemingly insurmountable point lead. Durell Busby won the event with a time of 13.92 seconds, shattering his own league record nearly half a second. Freshman Aaron Dillon took second in 14.54, sophomore Dexter Schleis was third in 14.58 and freshman Jordan Schmidt came in fourth at 14.65. All three of those times were season bests and now stand fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, in school history. Sophomore Alex Delveaux also ran in the event, taking seventh at 14.76.

In the 400m hurdles, Schleis took home the gold with an impressive time of 52.80, while Delveaux was second with a season-best time of 53.20. Schmidt also scored for the Panthers, crossing the line at 55.17 for fifth.

Milwaukee continued to flex its muscle in the high jump, taking the top three spots overall. Sophomore Nick Hughes led the way, taking the top spot with a leap of 6-7 (2.01m). Senior Ben Crogan took silver, clearing 6-5 (1.96m) and Dillon took third at 6-3 1/4 (1.91m).

Dillon continued his assault on the meet, easily winning the triple jump with a leap of 48-5 1/4 (14.76m), nearly a foot in front of second place. Junior Jake Whitewater also scored for Milwaukee, taking fifth at 43-7 1/4 (14.37m).

In the 100m, Washington Farrington and Matt Ferry nearly rewrote the UWM record book. Farrington took fourth overall with a time of 10.71 seconds, which now stands third in school history. Ferry, a freshman, was right behind in 10.74 seconds, good enough for fourth place in UWM history.

Farrington just missed scoring in the 200m, taking ninth at 22.41 while teammate Cory Yttre finished seventh in 22.35. Yttre later took fifth in the 400m with a season-best time of 49.00.

The men's 4x100m relay team of Busby, Yttre, Ferry and Farrington also set a record on the day, finishing the event in a blazing time of 41.48 seconds, good enough for fifth place in school history.

UWM had outstanding performances in the throwing events. Senior Matt Jensen scored in all three events taking third in the hammer throw (53.51m), sixth in discus (46.08m) and sixth in shot put with a season-best mark of 14.41m. Freshman Alex Chollet also had an outstanding meet, taking third in the discus at 47.39m, which now stands ninth in school history, and fifth in shot put with a mark of 13.59m. Both were season bests.

In the 800m, senior Jake Spaciel capped his collegiate career by taking fifth with a time of 1:53.32. Freshman Jeff Pigg was right behind in sixth at 1:54.61.

Freshman Joseph Morgan just missed scoring in the 1500m, taking seventh with a season-best time of 3:58.22. Freshman Louie Glotfelty also had a season-best time in the 5000m, crossing the line in 15:53.87 for 17th.

Milwaukee will compete at the Cardinal Twilight in Louisville, Ky. this Friday as part of an NCAA qualifying meet.