Panthers Come Up Short In Bid For Third-Straight League Title

Laura Ring

Milwaukee takes second by 11 points behind four wins on day two

KENT, Ohio (March 2, 2008) - Sophomores Laura Ring and Kelsey Conrad won individual titles and ran with the first-place 4x400m relay to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team on day two of the 2008 Horizon League Championships Sunday.

The Panthers fell just short of a third-straight league indoor title, scoring 159 points. Host Youngstown State took home first place with 170 points. No other team was close to YSU and UWM, as Butler tallied just 74 points for third. Valparaiso scored 33 points and Detroit 32 for fourth and fifth, while Wright State was sixth (26 points), Loyola took seventh (25) and UIC was eighth (8).

Ring won the 800m with a time of 2:13.89, just ahead of senior Shannon Buttchen in second with a time of 2:14.34. In the 400m, Conrad picked up her first league title with a time of 55.95, which was just 0.26 seconds off the school record. Freshman Angie Kaufmann took third in the event in 57.49.

Ring, Buttchen, Conrad and Kaufmann made up Milwaukee's league-champion 4x400m relay, combining on a time of 3:52.38.

Junior Beth Zimmerman, who was an all-league second-teamer in the long jump Saturday, won the triple jump. She leapt 37-10 ½ for top honors, while junior Jenni Saarinen also scored in sixth place with a jump of 36-1 ½. Zimmerman also scored in the 200m, taking sixth behind a third-place finish by Conrad. Conrad ran a time of 25.27 and Zimmerman 25.80.

Saarinen, meanwhile, garnered all-league second-team honors in the high jump, alongside freshman Chelsea Von Ruden. Both Panthers cleared 5-2 ¼ to tie for second place. Junior Holly Nearman rounded out the all-league members from the second day of the meet when she placed second in the 3000m. One day after topping the 5000m, she ran a time of 10:10.74 in the 3000m.

UWM's other scorers on Sunday included junior Erin Magargee and sophomores Jamie Woods and Emily Budde. Magargee was fourth in the mile with a time of 5:04.11, Woods was sixth in the shot put with a throw of 39-8 ¾ and Budde finished the 60m hurdles in 9.33 for sixth.