MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Andrew Basler, head coach of Milwaukee cross country and track and field, announced updates to his staff for the 2022-23 season on Wednesday.
 
Jake Reilly has been promoted to Associated Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach while Andrew Hatch joins Milwaukee as an assistant coach for sprints, hurdles, and relays.
 
Reilly, three-time Horizon League Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year, spent the last eight seasons on staff as an assistant coach prior to the promotion.
 
"We are excited to promote Coach Reilly from part-time to full-time, as well as adjust his title to Associate Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach," Basler stated. "Since my arrival to Milwaukee, my number one priority in our program's success plan has been to get Coach Reilly to full-time status. I want to thank Director of Athletics Amanda Braun and our sport supervisor Cathy Rossi for their support of making this promotion a reality. Coach Reilly has been instrumental in leading our women's cross country program to three Horizon League Championships in four years. As an alum of the program himself, Coach Reilly exudes an unmatched passion for our university and our program. We are looking forward to Coach Reilly's continued success."
 
Under Reilly, the women's cross country team has earned three titles and finished no lower than third in seven of his eight seasons. Behind a second straight title in 2021, MKE appeared on the USTFCCCA Regional Rankings for the first time in program history.
 
"I want to thank Coach Basler and the administration for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this program," Reilly said. "I have a long and deep-rooted history with the program, and I am extremely grateful to see the work Coach Basler has done reshaping the standard of what it takes to be a UWM Panther student-athlete. I am looking forward to the challenge of continuing to push that standard forward."
 
Hatch joins the Panthers for his first season after spending the last two years at Iowa. With Hatch on staff, the Hawkeyes saw three BIG Ten Men's Championships, three BIG Ten Individual Championships, 15 national qualifiers, and 10 school records.
 
"Coach Hatch has been a great addition to our program and staff. He demonstrated through the interview process the qualities I look for as an assistant coach," Basler mentioned. "Coach Hatch has had the opportunity to learn from well-respected coaches in our industry, most recently serving as an assistant coach at Iowa under Coach Joey Woody. The knowledge Coach Hatch gained under that mentorship, along with his experience as a NCAA Regional sprinter at Illinois State, makes him a great fit to lead our sprinters and hurdlers."
 
In addition to coaching two years with the Hawkeyes, Hatch spent time with the Iowa Speed Track Club as well as the Delta Plus Elite Track Club. Hatch graduated from Illinois State with a bachelor of Kinesiology where he raced four years with the Redbirds sprint team.
 
"I'm so grateful to Coach Basler and the coaching staff at Milwaukee for giving me the opportunity to work with the sprinters and hurdlers," Hatch said. "I'm very excited to be working with not only great athletes, but great people. I look forward to where we will take this program this year and beyond."