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Panthers Host Final Tune-Up

Milwaukee to welcome Loyola, UIC and Marquette Friday at Klotsche

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Feb. 19, 2003

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's and women's track and field teams will host their final tune-up Friday evening before the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships. This week's Pre-Conference Tune-Up will welcome Loyola, UIC and Marquette to the Klotsche Center for a 5 p.m. meet on Friday.

About the Panthers
UWM enters the 2003 season looking to reclaim the Horizon League Indoor Championship after seeing their streaks of five straight on the men's side and two straight women's titles snapped last year in Greencastle, Ind. The Panthers will have an extra incentive to win the championship this season, as the Klotsche Center plays host to the 2003 Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 1 and 2.

Last Week At Ames
Eric Gresham and Adam Hobler each posted a season-best time in the 400m at the Iowa State Invitational, while Laura Diers made the finals of the 60m dash and Nicole Frey set a pair of indoor career bests in the 60m and 200m dashes. The women's mile relay also set a season-best time of 3:55.26, cutting nearly four seconds off their previous best.

Middle Distance Masters
First there was Tim Kenney, then Cory Peterson, then Cornelius Hill. Now, three freshmen and a sophomore are stepping up to try to become the next great middle-distance runner for UWM. Freshmen Elliot Enright, Adam Swanson and Gabe Wagoner and sophomore Nick Bruskewitz each finished the 800m in the top 65 at the Iowa State Invitational Saturday. Wagoner led the way, posting a time of 1:55.27, followed by Swanson in 1:56.23. Enright was next, finishing in 1:56.52, while Bruskewitz ended in 1:57.18. Bruskewitz, Enright, Wagoner and Nick Viall are all in the top 10 in the league in the 800m, with Bruskewitz fourth, Enright in sixth, Viall seventh and Wagoner in eighth. Wagoner is also seventh in the league in the 400m, while Bruskewitz is 10th in the league in the quarter-mile.

Frey's Going Fast
Senior Nicole Frey is making her final indoor season a memorable one, having set a personal best in the 200m in each of the past three weeks. Entering the 2003 season, her best was a 25.69, set at last year's Iowa State Invitational. She bettered that mark first at Indianapolis on Feb. 1, running in 25.62, then cut more time off Feb. 8 at Northern Iowa, finishing in 25.54. She cut .2 seconds off that time Saturday at Iowa State, finishing in a new career-best 25.34. She has also set a personal best in the 60m dash this season, finishing the short sprint in 7.90 seconds twice already this season, bettering her previous best of 7.95, set at the Horizon League Championships last season.

Setting the Pace
Eric Gresham and Adam Hobler appear ready to apply a strong one-two punch for the Panthers in the 400m. The two finished the race Saturday at Iowa State just .04 seconds apart. With the conversion down to a 200m track from the 300m track at Ames, the pair still holds the two top marks in the Horizon League, with Gresham leading with 49.85 and Hobler right behind at 49.89. No other league runner has broken the 50-second mark on the season.

Leaping Lynda
Lynda Thiel has opened the 2003 season where she left off a year ago, having already broken a school record three times this season. Thiel cleared 11'7 1/4" in the pole vault Feb. 8 at Northern Iowa, re-setting the school record she broke Feb. 1 in Indianapolis and Jan. 11 in Madison. She also won the pole vault and high jump during both the Eastern Illinois Quadrangular on Jan. 25 and the Carthage College Division I Invitational on Jan. 18. Thiel was named the league's Outstanding Performer for Field Events at the outdoor championships last spring after winning the pole vault and the javelin and finishing fourth in the high jump.

Kenesie Keeps Moving
Senior Stephanie Kenesie has typically been one of the busiest and most versatile athletes on the day of the meet, and the start of the 2003 season has seen no change from that trend. She ended up second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump Feb. 1 in Indianapolis, along with also running in the 60m hurdles. Jan. 25 in Charleston, she won the long jump while also finishing second in the 60m hurdles and third in the triple jump. Kenesie competed in four events Jan. 18 at Carthage, finishing first in the long and triple jump while also gathering a fourth-place showing in the high jump and a fifth-place mark in the 55m hurdles.

High-Flying Freshmen
The men's team, seeking to replace one of the most prolific jumpers in school history, Ken Hunt, might have found several candidates after the first couple few weeks of the season. Sean Cludy was third in the triple jump Saturday in Indianapolis, a week after winning the triple jump and finishing sixth in the high jump Saturday in Charleston. Scott Bambrough was seventh in the triple jump Saturday, while Steven Capela was ninth in the long jump in Indianapolis. Cludy and Bambrough each placed in both the long and triple jumps Jan. 18 at Carthage, with Cludy finishing third in the triple and sixth in the long. Bambrough, meanwhile, was eighth in the long and fourth in the triple at Carthage.

One Meet, One Record
Stephanie Ray didn't take long to make her mark on the UWM record book. In her first collegiate competition Jan. 18 at Carthage, she threw the 20lb. weight throw 37'1 3/4", good for the UWM record in the event. The Racine native is the first woman in school history to compete in the event.

Another Strong First Impression
Christine Wampach is quickly having one of the best seasons by a UWM distance runner in school history. Wampach has run one race in the mile, 3000m and 5000m this seasion, with each race winding up as one of the top 10 indoor performances in school history. The sophomore was fourth in the mile Jan. 18 at Carthage, and her time of 5:03.75 is the seventh-best indoor time in school history. Jan. 25 at Charleston, she followed that up with a win in the 3000m run, finishing in 10:09.57, good for the fifth-best 3000m time in UWM history. Most recently, she finished fourth in the 5000m at Indianapolis on Feb. 1 with a time of 17:51.78, which places her sixth on the all-time list. Wampach ran in just the first two indoor meets in her freshman indoor season before sitting out the outdoor season and the fall cross country season.

Record Breakers
Lynda Thiel and Katie Seep had a meet to remember last year at the Horizon League Outdoor Championships on May 9 and 10 in Indianapolis. Thiel set a new school record in the pole vault, clearing 3.35m (11 feet) and was named the meet's Outstanding Performer for Field Events. Seep, meanwhile, set a new Horizon League record in winning the 400m, finishing in 57.04.

Breaking The Fieldhouse
Three fieldhouse and five meet records fell at the hands of Panther track and field athletes Jan. 18 at Carthage. The women's team claimed the three fieldhouse marks and three meet marks on their way to a second-place finish, while the men's team took down two meet records and finished third. Stephanie Kenesie and Lynda Thiel each broke a meet and fieldhouse mark, with Kenesie's coming in the long jump and Thiel's in the pole vault. The women's 4x200m relay team of Sara Vanderloop, Laura Diers, Iris Perez and Nicole Frey also grabbed a meet and fieldhouse mark, finishing in 1:44.35. For the men, Kyle Huebner broke his own meet record in the pole vault, while the men's 4x400m relay team also set a meet record, finishing in 3:22.11.

On The Men's Roster
Several strong newcomers join a talented core of returners for coach Pete Corfeld's men's team. Among the returnees are Nick Davis, Kyle Huebner and Adam Hobler, each of whom received first team all-league honors a year ago. Davis and Huebner each won one indoor title, with Davis winning two events outdoors and Huebner and Hobler each winning one. Also returning is sophomore Steve Saul, who earned all-league recognition in cross country during the fall of 2002.

For The Women
Six different women won titles a year ago, with five of them returning in 2003 to defend their championship. Nicole Frey captured both the indoor and outdoor 200m crown, while Stephanie Kenesie won the long jump both indoors and outdoors. Kenesie also added an indoor triple jump title to her credit. Abby Hurst (3000m steeplechase), Katie Seep (outdoor 400m) and Lynda Thiel (outdoor pole vault, javelin) also return to try to repeat.

Thanks For The Memories
The men's team lost three of the most decorated athletes in the school's Division I history in Cornelius Hill, Ken Hunt and Jon Manke at the end of last season. Hill departs UWM after just one season, but holds the school record in the indoor mile and 3000m, along with the outdoor mile. Hunt is the school record holder in the indoor and outdoor triple jumps with the same mark in both. Manke, meanwhile, holds the indoor shot and weight throw records, and the outdoor shot and discus marks.

Next On Tap
The indoor season will come to its climax next weekend, when UWM hosts the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Klotsche Center. The two-day event begins at 4 p.m. on Sat., March 1 and continues through Sun., Mar. 2.