April 20, 2002

MILWAUKEE - Two UWM relay teams each finished third in their respective events Saturday in the second day of competition at the 75th Annual Kansas Relays.

The men's 4x800m relay team of B.J. Blake, Nick Viall, Joe Tuttle and Cornelius Hill took third with a time of 7:40.95, behind Eastern Illinois and Kansas City (Kansas) Community College. The Panthers, who entered the meet with the fourth-fastest seed time, narrowly missed out on second place, finishing just .25 seconds behind Kansas City for second. UWM also held off a late charge at the line by Missouri, who finished .04 seconds behind UWM. UWM also finished ahead of Iowa State and DePaul in the race, as the teams who placed second through fifth all finished within a second of each other.

"We gave it a shot, and it was a really tight finish," head coach Pete Corfeld said. "In all our history in the 4x800m, we'd never beaten Missouri before, so that was really good. It was a good, competitive race."

The women's sprint medley relay team also took third, finishing in a time of 3:23.99. The team of Abby Hurst, Stephanie Kenesie, Kristy Naef and Katie Seep easily took third, more than five seconds ahead of fourth-place Lindenwood University.

"It was great that all the kids wound up with a podium spot," Corfeld said. "It gives them something to bring home besides their times to show for their efforts."

Kenesie and Naef also competed in individual events Saturday. Naef ran a personal best in the 100m hurdles, finishing 13th in 14.59. Kenesie didn't fare as well, fouling on her three attempts in the long jump.

The Panthers will return to top-level intercollegiate action next week when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Relays.