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Panthers Head To Sea Ray Relays

Milwaukee coming off decisive meet win last weekend

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MILWAUKEE, Wis. (April 12, 2006) - After competing in Milwaukee County for the first time in almost four years, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team returns to the road this weekend for the Sea Ray Relays Friday and Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn. Hosted by the University of Tennessee, the meet gets underway at 10 a.m.

Last Time Out
UWM posted 11 wins, including three Panthers with two wins each, to blow away the field at the Warrior Invitational, last Saturday in Wauwatosa. Milwaukee finished with 223 points to win the six-team meet, while Concordia finished second with 119.

Senior Katie Slamka, junior Timeka Walker and freshman Beth Zimmerman each won two events to lead the way. Slamka picked up wins in both the 100m and 400m hurdle events, running a time of 15.56 in the 100mH. Walker topped both the 100m and 200m, running a time of 12.72 in the 100m and 26.21 in the 200m. Zimmerman, meanwhile, set a PR with a leap of 36-4 1/2 in winning the triple jump. Her jump of 16-9 1/2 in the long jump was also good enough for the win.

Panther Heptathletes
Four heptathletes were also in action last week, competing at Eastern Illinois' Big Blue Multi-Event. Freshman Jenni Saarinen won the heptathlon to lead the way, with freshman Kory Olson finishing fifth, senior Jodi Hrdina eighth and freshman Alicia Schneider ninth. Saarinen won the meet by 601 points, posting the second-best score in school history (4,750). Olson finished with 3,953 points, the ninth-most in school history.

Yeah, She's Good
Saarinen heptathlon score from Saturday sits second in school history only to Kristy Naef's score of 4,889 points from the same meet in 2001. Aiding in the Finland native's score was a high jump of 5-6 1/2, which also sits second in school history, and a throw of 122-0 in the javelin, which is third all-time. Indoors, she won the pentathlon at the Horizon League Championships and set a school record by 373 points (3,459).

League Honors
Saarinen was named this week's Horizon League Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Week for her efforts. She is the second Panther to earn the honor in as many weeks. Senior Tenia Fisher was given the award April 3. Milwaukee claimed Athlete of the Week accolades twice during the indoor season.

Three Times Is A Trend, Right?
Junior Taryn Cozine lowered her personal record in the 400m hurdles for the third-straight weekend, getting edged by teammate Katie Slamka by just 0.1 seconds. Her time of 1:03.13 was a 0.52 improvement over her time run at the Mike Poehlein Invite April 1. After cracking the school's all-time top-10 in the event at No. 9 March 25, she has moved up to No. 6.

Up Next
UWM has little rest, heading to Lisle, Ill., for the Illinois Benedictine Invitational Saturday, April 22.