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Panthers Head To Big Blue Classic

Track and field to compete in three-day event

March 31, 2004

MILWAUKEE -

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On Tap: Big Blue Classic
When:Thurs. April 1 - Sat. April 3
Where: Charleston, Ill. (Eastern Illinois University)
Thursday Start: 10:00 a.m.
Friday Start: 2:00 p.m.
Saturday Start: 10:00 a.m.

Competition Schedule in PDF Format

On Tap
After opening the outdoor season well, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee track and field program will head for the Big Blue Invitational this weekend. The meet will run over the course of three days and will be the second outdoor meet of the season for UWM.

The Panthers, who held out some competitors last week at the Purdue Invitational, will be set with a full compliment of athletes for the three-day meet. Events for the Big Blue Classic will begin on Thursday, March 1 with the heptathlon and decathlon being the day's only two event. The two events will also kick off Friday's session with the distance and throwing events set to start at 2 p.m. that afternoon. Saturday's session is set to begin at 10 a.m. and will be comprised of field events and running events.

Multitude of Encouraging Performances
The UWM men's track and field team entered the Purdue Invitational (3/26-27) looking for ways to build off their recent Horizon League indoor championship. They definitely came away with some encouraging performances to, perhaps, build that confidence to take the league's outdoor championship.

Led by a multitude of encouraging performances, the Panther men scored three first-place finishes (Justin Gorman, Jeremy Majors and Ben Uphoff) and three second-place finishes (Sean Cludy, Eric Gresham and Gabe Wagoner).

Looking For More
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team was looking forward to a good beginning to this year's outdoor season. Competing at the Purdue Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind. The women received some solid performances by what appeared to be a smaller lineup for coach Corfeld's Panthers.

Sophomore Tenia Fisher led the way for the Panther women by building off her recent success from the indoor season. The second-year performer raced to a time of 56.80 to claim the victory in the 400-meter dash. Fisher's time was just short of her own school-record time of 56.58 set during the 2003 season.

Katie Slamka and Anna Christian also added some good runs. Slamka opened her outdoor season in the 400-meter hurdles and claimed a second-place finish with a time of 1:03.18. Slamka also added a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles. Anna Christian had a tough task to handle by running the 10,000-meter run, but came away in third with a time of 37:27.57.

Other Contributors were Stephanie Ray, Griffin McNulty, Kourtney Nault and Jodi Hrdina. Ray, typically a strong pole-vaulter, had her best finish in the triple jump where she placed fourth. The sophomore finished eighth in the pole vault. McNulty finished fifth in the 800-meter run while Nault placed sixth in the 10,000-meter run. Hrdina, who also competed in the 400-meter hurdles, finished fifth.

Adding Awards
Sophomore Tenia Fisher should break out the boxes as she'll have to do some reshuffling of items on her trophy case. Fisher, who was named the Horizon League's Outdoor Track and Field Newcomer of the Year in 2003 added two more awards to her shelf. Fisher was named the Horizon League's Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet for the league's indoor championships and has also been named the Horizon League's Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Fisher had an outstanding indoor season by running the 800-meter run in a time of 2:12.04 and claiming two first-place finishes at the indoor championships (3/26-27).

Going Over The Competition
For Eric Wheeler, the only competition he's had to really take on has been the hurdles in front of him. The Panther freshman has placed himself at the top of the Horizon League's list for best times after running a 7.83 in the 55-meter high hurdles at the UWM Tune Up Meet (2/21).

Outdoors Brings Sunshine
For freshman Jeremy Majors the outdoor season could be a bright spot. Majors continues to race better with every event. The freshman raced his way to a lifetime personal record in the 800-meter run at the UWM Tune Up meet. With a time of 1:54.13, the freshman from Jonesborrow, Ga., is .99 off the qualifying mark for the USATF Junior Track and Field Meet.

Slam(ka)-ming The Hurdles
Katie Slamka opened the outdoor season as the Panthers' favorite to lead the way in the hurdles. So far, the results are on par for the early part of the outdoor season. Competing in the 100-meter high hurdles and the 400-meter low hurdles, Slamka claimed second and fifth. Slamka's time of 1:03.18 is currently her career-best in the event. Her previous best time was 1:03.25.

Another Trophy On The Shelf
Panther head coach Pete Corfeld is one of the more quiet coaches in the sport of track and field. A knowledgable coach, Corfeld resigns to the fact that the athletes do the work. However, his work hasn't gone unnoticed either. Corfeld recently led the Panther men to the 2004 Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championship and was also named Coach of the Year. For the Panther head coach, the award was the 20th time he's won it and the championship was his 21st.

Taking It The Distance
Ben Uphoff apparently doesn't mind going the distance for things. The freshman distance runner did go the distance by claiming his first collegiate win for track and field. Competing in the 5,000-meter run at the Purdue Invitational (3/26-27), Uphoff won the race with a time of 15:28.27. The New London native finished just under 24 seconds in front of the second-place time (15:53.01).

Tag Team Effort
Don't tell Jeremy Majors, Gabe Wagoner, Adam Swanson or Elliot Enright that running the 800 can't be a tag-team effort. The four athletes did their best at the Purdue Invitational to make sure they were the one's to beat. When it was all said and done, Majors was in first-place, Wagoner was in second, and Swanson and Enright claimed fourth and fifth.

Doing The Math
Had the Purdue Invitational been scored for team points, the finishes by Majors, Wagoner, Swanson and Enright would have netted more total points than had just one of them finished in first-place.

Running Forever
Sometimes running 20 minutes can be a long time. Sometimes running 30 minutes feels like you've been running forever. Don't tell try that theory on junior distance runner Anna Christian. Christian competed in the 10,000-meter run on Saturday afternoon at the Purdue Invitational and found herself in a third-place finish. Christian completed the long task with a time of 37:27.57

Barriers and Water, Anybody?
Anybody up for barriers and water? When that question was posed, word is that Panther Junior Micah Hanthorn and Sophomore Josh Nygren ran to the front of the class. The two Panthers competed in the 3,000-meter steeple chase for the first time this outdoor season at the Purdue Invitational and came away with decent results. Nygren finished fourth with a time of 9:32.14 and Hanthorn finished eighth with a time of 9:58.94.

Athlete of the Week Totals
As the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has opened up the 2004 indoor track and field season, the Horizon League has been making sure the individual efforts haven't gone unnoticed.

The Panthers claimedfour athletes of the week (two men and two women) during the indoor season. The Panthers have had Eric Gresham, Katie Slamka, and most recently, Justin Gorman and Griffin McNulty receive the league's weekly award.

Making An Impact
Freshman mid-distance runner Justin Gorman is making a fast name for himself as a competitor with endless boundaries.

Gorman, a Spring Green-native, raced to his first-ever collegiate win in the 800-meter run (1:54.72) during the Carthage College Invitational (1/31). Claiming a not only a victory, but Gorman's time of 1:54.72 was the fastest time ever recorded in the meet.

When you didn't think it could get any better, it suddenly did. The freshman ran to a UWM freshman record in the 800-meter run (1:52.39) at the ISU Classic (2/13-14). Gorman's time was not only a record, but also fast enough to qualify for the United State Track and Field Junior National Championship (qualifying mark was 1:53.14). The meet will take place June 24 and continue through July 4 in Buffalo, New York.

Distance Runners Move To A New Level
The Panther distance runners used the ISU Classic (2/13-14) to bring out their fastest times of the year and of their career.

The 5,000-meter run played host to several new personal-best times for Panther runners. Bryan Hassemer led the field with the highest improvement by chopping off 36 seconds enroute to his best time (15:05.95). Josh Nygren ran to the next highest improvement by knocking off 23 seconds to achieve his best time (14:44.08).

Rebuilding The Engine Like New
After finishing fourth at last year's Horizon League Indoor Championships and dropping to fifth in the outdoor championships, the Panther men are readying themselves to rebuild the engine to run as if it's brand new. The Panthers had 13 freshman on last year's squad. 10 of them will be returning for 2003-04. Returning 10 freshmen into their second year has been a recipe many coaches use to build depth and to add the necessary experience in hopes that it will translate into early succes. The Panthers still have some key cogs that were a part of the last teams to win the league championship in Adam Hobbler, Eric Gresham and Nick Davis. All three were members of the last indoor and outdoor championships that the Panthers claimed in 2001. Brightness is on the horizon as the Panthers will return some solid sophomores. Gabe Wagoner, named indoor track athlete of the year, and Josh Nygren, who was a solid performer for the cross country program and paced himself all the way to the NCAA Regional Championship.

Defending The Title
The Panther women enter 2003-04 as the reigning indoor and outdoor champions for the Horizon League. The Panthers have entered each season that way since the 2000-01 season. The Panthers won the indoor championship last year on the Klotsche Center Track with 165 team points, third highest in league history. The squad also notched a victory in the outdoor championships. The next closest team to the Panthers had 81 points (Butler). Kristin Naef, Lynda Theil and Stephanie Kenesie were all major contributors to the championships, but have since moved on due to graduation. The Panthers will look to returners like Kalin Konop, Sara Vanderloop, Tenia Fisher and Katie Slamka to continue the dominance. Konop finished 2nd and 3rd in the long jump and triple jump in last year's outdoor championships. VanderLoop placed 4th in the 100 and 3rd in the 200. Fisher claimed the victory in the 400-meter dash and Slamka placed 3rd in the 100-meter hurdles and 2nd in the 400-meter hurdles.

Three-peat
The Panther women had goals to return to championship form that last season, and that's exactly what they did. The women's track and field team won the Horizon League Championship for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2003. The Panther's three-peated for the outdoor championship with a dominating team performance that was capped off by 252 points. Last season marked the return of the indoor championship and a successful defense of the outdoor.