Panthers Head To West Lafayette For Dave Rankin Invite
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (April 16, 2008) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team is in action next this Saturday at the Dave Rankin Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind. Milwaukee is coming off a strong showing at the Sea Ray Relays last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn. Junior Jenni Saarinen led four top-10 finishers at the event with a record-breaking performance in the heptathlon. Saarinen scored a school-record 5,021 points in the multi-event to break her own mark of 4,993 set in 2006. She also fell just 29 points shy of an NCAA provisional score. She placed seventh in the event, while sophomore Kory Olson was seventh with 4,563 points, fourth-best in school history. Sophomore Abbie Zaspel and the distance medley relay led the Panthers on the Saturday with fourth-place finishes. Zaspel completed the 10,000m in 39:06.54, while the DMR of juniors Danielle Magargee and Holly Nearman and sophomores Kelsey Conrad and Laura Ring ran a time of 12:13.72 The Panthers have garnered their fair share of honors after strong showings in each of their three meets this season. Saarinen was named this week's Horizon League Athlete of the Week, while Nearman won awards in each of the two weeks prior. Nearman was named league athlete of the week after the season-opener March 31 and then the league's scholar-athlete of the week April 7.
The school's heptathlon record is not the only mark to fall so far in the young outdoor season. Sophomore Erin Havener also broke the pole vault standard at the Big Blue Classic April 4. She cleared 12-1 1/2 to eclipse the previous mark by just one inch. Meanwhile, there has been seven more athletes have combined for 11 showings in Milwaukee's all-time top-10 in their events. Despite heading into just their fourth meet of the outdoor season, the league championships are fast approaching. The championship portion of the schedule actually gets underway May 3 with the league's multi-event championships, while the remainder of the meet is a week later. Milwaukee appears to be in good shape for the meet, as the Panthers lead the league in eight events, including Saarinen in the long jump, javelin and heptathlon. UWM splits up next weekend, as some of the team will head to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Relays (April 24-26). The remainder of the squad will head across town to the Marquette Invitational that Saturday (April 26). |
