Panthers Fall Shorts Of League Championship, Take Second
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (May 9, 2008) - Five Panthers won league titles on Friday, but it was not enough as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team finished second at the 2008 Horizon League Championships. Milwaukee scored 178 points to trail only host Youngstown State with 194. It was a two-team race as Valparaiso was third, 104 points behind UWM, with 74. Butler took fourth place with 65 points, just ahead of Loyola with 64. Detroit (49 points), Wright State (21) and UIC (6) rounded out the field. "Our women really put up a good fight this week," UWM head coach Pete Corfeld said. "They showed a lot of heart, but just came up short. This finish will definitely give our team added incentive for next season." Sophomore Erin Havener continued her dominance of the league pole vault competition, winning a fourth-straight league title with her final height of 11-7 3/4. She broke her own league record that she set as a freshman last season, marking the fourth time in as many league meets (including indoor) that she has broken the league standard. Junior Jes Weyandt was second in the event, earning all-league second-team honors by clearing 11-1 3/4. The Panthers also posted the top two finishers in the javelin, with junior Kory Olson netting her second league title of the season. She had won the heptathlon last week and threw 126-8 in the javelin for another crown. Junior Jenni Saarinen earned a place on the all-league second team with a throw of 119-9. Saarinen added a league title of her own in the high jump, clearing 5-5. Freshman Chelsea Von Ruden was third in the event with a height of 5-3.
Sophomore Kelsey Conrad highlighted the running events, winning the 200m and taking second in the 400m and with the 4x100m and 4x400m relays. In the 200m, she crossed the line in 25.00. She also ran a time of 56.02 in the 400m, with freshman Angie Kaufmann taking fifth in 57.81. Kaufmann joined Conrad on both relays, with the 4x100m running a time of 47.17 and the 4x400m finishing in 3:52.62. Junior Beth Zimmerman and sophomore Emily Budde rounded out the 4x100m, while sophomore Laura Ring and senior Shannon Buttchen were also on the 4x400m. Ring won the 800m, a feat she accomplished indoors as well, running a personal-best time of 2:11.90. Buttchen also scored with a fourth-place showing and a time of 2:15.81. Zimmerman scored in another two events, finishing second in the triple jump with a leap of 39-3 1/4 and sixth in the 100m with a time of 12.55. UWM had two more scorers in the triple jump, with sophomores Kicha Cary taking fifth (37-7 1/) and Reigna Pierce placing sixth (37-4). Junior Holly Nearman was the team's final all-league competitor, taking second in the 5000m for second-team honors. She crossed the line in 16:55.76, just 0.32 seconds out of first place. Nearman also competed in the 1500m, where her time of 4:36.07 put her third at the meet, as well as third in school history. Senior Erin Magargee also scored in the 1500m, running 4:44.03 for fifth. Budde and Olson rounded out the Milwaukee scorers in the 100m hurdles. Budded was fourth in 15.16 and Olson was fifth in 15.43. |
