Printer-friendly format Email this article Shannon Buttchen

Panthers Return To Action At Northern Iowa Classic

Jan. 31, 2005

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

After a week off, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team returns to action at the Northern Iowa Classic Saturday (Feb. 5). Action gets underway at 4 p.m. at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

A Look At Northern Iowa Classic
Joining the Panthers and Northern Iowa at this weekend's meet will be "major" conference foe, Iowa State of the Big XII, as well as Drake, who joins UNI from the Missouri Valley Conference. North Dakota State and South Dakota State will also be competing, as they are in their first seasons at the Division I level. Rounding out the field is Cloud County Community College which boasted two National Champions at the NJCAA National Indoor Meet last season.

Last Time Out
Junior Tenia Fisher won the 600m to lead UWM at the Central Collegiate Championships, Jan. 21-22, in Champaign, Ill. For the meet, the Panthers tallied 31.33 points to take sixth, while host Illinois scored 223 for the win. Fisher's time of 1:34.37in the event ranks second in school history, just 0.48 seconds off the record.

Athlete Of The Week
Tenia Fisher has been named the Horizon League Track Athlete of the Week following each of Milwaukee's two meets this season. After a first-place performance in the 800m at the Division I Invitational (Jan. 15), Fisher ran the second-fastest time in school history to win the 600m two weeks ago at the Central Collegiate Championships. In winning the award each week, she completed a UWM sweep, as Panther men have also won the honor each time. Junior Gabe Wagoner joined Fisher on Jan. 17, while freshman Jay Schweitzer was the men's recipient on Jan. 24.

Moving Up
Fisher has not been the only Milwaukee woman to be taking an eraser to the school record book. Junior Stephanie Ray already appears in mid-season form in the pole vault, and the UWM relays are shaping up nicely. In the first meet of the season Ray eclipsed her previous best vault by 17 3/4 inches in establishing a school mark of 11-7 3/4. She topped the old mark by a half inch. Meanwhile, in her last time out, Fisher fell just 0.48 seconds short of the school's 600m standard, while also running with the sixth-fastest distance medley relay. She also contributed to the eighth-best 4x400m time at the Division I Invite.

Nice Start
Freshman Shannon Buttchen has enjoyed a nice start to her collegiate career, competing primarily in the 400m and with the 4x400m relay. She opened the season with a second-place showing in the 400m at the Division I Invite, as well as a share in the first-place finish of the 4x400m relay. The relay had posted the eight-fastest time in school history in doing so. Her last time out, she took sixth in the 400m and helped the relay to a fifth-place finish.

Up Next
The Panthers split up to compete at a pair of meets next weekend, as some will travel back to Iowa for the Iowa State Cyclone Classic, Feb. 11-12, and the remainder of the team will remain close to home to compete at the Pepsi Challenge in Kenosha, Wis., on Saturday (Feb. 12).