The John Tierney Invitational was more than a normal track & field meet for Paige Haglund and Amerie Mitjans-Shapiro. It also marked the first hometown event of the two Milwaukee natives’ collegiate careers.
Although the meet did not take place on Marquette’s campus, the Golden Eagles only had to travel 3.7 miles before they arrived at the Klotsche Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As 70 Marquette student-athletes made their way into the arena and prepared to compete in a wide-array of events, Haglund and Mitjans-Shapiro were among the six Golden Eagles to experience a more special feeling.
One that comes with having a bevy of loved ones there to cheer and support.
“This will definitely be the meet a lot of my family comes to see,” Haglund said.
For both student-athletes, Marquette was not their first taste of what Milwaukee had to offer. Haglund, a graduate from Whitefish Bay High School, has always found herself around Marquette’s campus. Not only was Marquette just a 12-minute drive from her hometown, but her university alumni relatives made it feel like home long before she stepped foot on campus as a student-athlete.
“My mom has a degree from Marquette, and two of my cousins also went to Marquette,” Haglund said. “Marquette has always felt like a home to me. I would always come to the basketball and volleyball games when I was younger.”
Haglund competing in Division I athletics with the school she grew up rooting for happened after she finished high school as a sectional champion three times in a row from 2022-24, while also making three state appearances in high school. She also benefited from a background in figure skating, even traveling to Europe for Team USA in both 2024 and 2025.
“I started figure skating when I was four,” Haglund recalled. “My goal was always Team USA.”
While passionate about figure skating, she believed she still had more to give in track & field. But she did credit her figure skating experience to her improvement as an overall athlete.
“Figure skating takes severe muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance, which translated into running, pretty well,” Haglund said. “It made me a better athlete in general.”
For the other Milwaukee native, Mitjans-Shapiro, it was slightly different. She chose Marquette not only because of the location but also because it aligned with her career goals, by having a biomedical sciences program, hoping that one day she could become a dentist.
“I have always been interested in healthcare.” Mitjans-Shapiro said. “Just giving back to people, I really want to be a dentist, that’s my main goal.”
Both athletes are now able to compete in their backyard with their family and friends in attendance.
“I’m looking forward to my mom being there,” Mitjans-Shapiro said.
Mitjans-Shapiro’s old coaches and teammates were also there. The ones who knew her as the Rufus King International High School 100m hurdles record holder, a feat that shows why she won hurdler of the year both her junior and senior seasons. After Sunday, though, they will know her as the one who made the finals qualifier in the 60m hurdles in her first meet in Milwaukee.
“For Marquette specifically, I feel like it put me in a place where I can be seen,” Mitjans-Shapiro said. “I feel like I can be a point scorer for our team as well.”
After Sunday, Marquette track & field will not be back in Milwaukee until the final meet of the indoor season Feb. 21, the Panther Tune-Up. Then, Mitjans-Shapiro and Haglund can show out in front of their hometown crowd again.
This article was written by Lukas Schulze. He can be reached at lukas.schulze@marquette.edu