Lakeland University's track and field program, in the midst of a significant rebuild, recently completed a highly promising indoor portion of its 2019 season.
 
Of the 10 athletes on the roster, seven were freshmen; there were no seniors. And other than two runners who battled injuries, the remaining eight all saw remarkable gains from the beginning of the season to the end. Among the highlights:
 

• Freshman Kayla Bruton (Milwaukee) improved her 200-meter dash time in every race, going from a 29.41 in the opener to a 28.11 at the NACC meet. Bruton finished 7^th at the NACC championship, despite battling injuries. Bruton also showed great potential in the 400, but ran it only intermittently due to her injuries.
• Freshman Devon Zahn (Oshkosh) dropped his 400 time from 55.15 in the opener to 54.67, and dropped his 200 from 28.00 to 24.58.
• Freshman Nathalie Cairo (Kenosha) set the modern LU indoor record in the women's 800-meter run with a 2:41.28, and took 13 seconds off her mile time during the six-week season.
• Freshman Bailee Nessinger (Manitowoc), who didn't run track her senior year of high school, took nearly five seconds off her 200-meter dash time, and took more than nine seconds off her 400-meter dash time.
• Freshman Tyler Jensen (Sheboygan) took nearly seven seconds off his 400-meter dash time, and dropped a stunning 18 seconds off his 800-meter run time.
• Freshman Colton Roepke (New Holstein) sliced more than nine seconds off his 400-meter run time, and improved by nearly six seconds in the 200.
• Junior Rachel Ulatowski (Fredonia) broke 3 minutes in the 800 for the first time in her three years at Lakeland, clocking a 2:57.75 in the conference meet. That was four seconds faster than her season-opening time, and nearly 17 seconds faster than her first 800 as a freshman. Ulatowski also PR'd in the mile, dropping nearly 21 seconds in that race from the beginning of the season to the end.
• Sophomore Hope Cerney (Green Bay) battled calf and ankle injuries, but still took nearly a full second off her 200 time.

 
"We have athletes with a wide range of talent, but to a man and woman, they worked very hard during the indoor season," said Lakeland Head Track & Field Coach Pete Barth. "Track is not an easy sport, and some of our practices are brutal. However, these 10 great young men and women showed up every day and got after it. I'm very proud of them, and excited about the future."
 
Lakeland now moves into the outdoor portion of its season and prepares for its outdoor opener on March 30 at Carroll University.