Panther Cross Country Opens 2008 Season At DePaul
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Aug. 27, 2008) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's cross country team kicks off its 2008 season this weekend at the DePaul Invitational Friday evening in Chicago, Ill. The Panthers are coming off a breakout season in 2007, in which they took second at the league championship for the first time since joining the conference. The finish came after four-straight third-place finishes by UWM behind Butler and Loyola. The finished signified the squad's ability to break the two teams' stranglehold on the top of the league. With the confidence of finally breaking into the top two, combined with a strong corps of returning runners, Milwaukee will look to cement itself among the top teams in the league. Back are all-league performers in senior Erin Magargee and junior Abbie Zaspel, as well as three more upperclassmen. Included in that group is a third scorer in senior Elizabeth Brothen. Magargee finished last season strong, taking eighth at the league championships and finishing as the team's second runner at the NCAA Regional. While her league finish netted her second-team honors, she missed a first-team nod by just six seconds. Then, at the regional, she finished 66th, the 16th-best finish by a Panther in the team's Division I history. Zaspel emerged as a consistent scorer as a sophomore in her first season in Milwaukee since transferring from Florida Gulf Coast. She earned all-league second-team status with a 13th-place showing at the league championships, a finish she will look to improve upon this season. She competed at five meets in 2007 and was in the team's top three 3 times and was fourth twice. Rounding out the returning scorers is Brothen. She has gotten better each season at UWM and 2007 was no different. She scored at every meet she competed and was a high as the fourth Panther across the line. She showed glimpses of consistent scoring as a sophomore, then established herself among the scorers last season.
Senior Danielle Magargee, twin sister of Erin, is among the returners that could vie for a spot among the top five. She came to Milwaukee without having run in high school and has gotten better each year. She is coming off a breakout track season and she could be ready to step up among the scorers. Junior Laura Ring will look to transfer a standout track campaign in 2008 into a strong cross country campaign. The league's reigning indoor and outdoor 800m champion, she scored at one meet and was among the top seven at three others. At the league championship last season, she placed 30th. Another returning runner that continues to improve is sophomore Tanaiya Fisher. She started out her freshman campaign strong, finishing first among her teammates at the shorter UIC Home Opener. Her places improved as she continued to run longer. She was among the team's top seven at two other meets. Five freshmen join the team in 2008 and will look to make a difference right away. The group will learn from a strong group of upperclassmen. Kristine Schuette comes to Milwaukee from Iowa City, Iowa. As a senior, she helped Iowa City West to a fifth-place finish at the state cross country meet. She took 49th, individually, after also competing at the meet as a junior. In track, she has found even more success, winning a pair of state relay titles and helping her team to three-straight team state championships. Beonca Mitchell is another rookie, coming from just down the road at Rufus King High School in Milwaukee. She was a state champion as a senior with the 4x400m relay in track and a third-place finisher as a junior when she was teammates with Tanaiya Fisher. She can run longer, doing so at the state meet with the 4x800m relay twice. Shannon Brown is another newcomer to the program, but is already be familiar with the squad. The younger sister of Laura Ring, Brown followed her sister from Wilmot Union High School. At WUHS, Brown was a two-time state competitor cross country, as well as in the 1600m. As a senior, she placed 29th at the state cross country meet and 13th in the 1600m in track. Completing the freshman class are rookies Stephanie Walker and Angie Tabrizi. Walker hails from Green Bay Southwest High School and put together strong finishes at the sectional meet in each of her four prep seasons. As a sophomore, she was 13th after a 16th-place showing as a freshman. She capped her career with a 22nd-place finisher her senior season. Tabrizi, meanwhile, finished among the top-30 at sectionals in each of her last three seasons. She took 23rd as a sophomore and 24th as a senior. |
