Results

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Jan. 22, 2011) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team won seven events, but the 4x400m relay proved to be the difference in a 71-69 dual meet victory over Marquette Saturday at the Klotsche Center.

The Panther men also won, 79.5-58.5, giving UWM a combined win over the Golden Eagles for the second-straight season.

"We won the meet on both sides to meet our goal and we had an exciting finish for the women," Milwaukee head coach Pete Corfeld said. "We were looking to tap our competitive spirit and the athletes definitely did that today. We want to keep building on that. This was another step in the right direction from last week to this week. It was a good step and we will continue doing that.

"It was great to see the team come together and take care of the home turf winning both sides of the meet. It was good practice for conference in that regard--coming together, doing their part and coming through at the end victorious. We've had a really nice first two meets and we are looking for another nice step forward next week."

With the score tied at 66-66 heading into the relay, the foursome of Lauren Grant, Calanetta Burrows, Angie Kaufmann and Simbi Laaro combined to run a time of 3:57.41 to edge the Marquette relay by just 0.61 seconds and secure the meet victory.

The drama of the final event nearly overshadowed a pair of school and fieldhouse records on the day. Chia Okonkwo lowered the school and Klotsche standard in the 60m hurdles, while Samia Taylor had the opposite effect on her own triple jump mark.

Okonkwo ran 8.76 in winning the hurdles. The eclipsed the school mark of 8.91 and the fiedhouse record of 8.96 she set last season. Her personal record in the event was 8.93, run last weekend and formerly tied for second in school history. Laura Hamel took third in the event, running 9.66. Meanwhile, Okonkwo added a second-place showing in the 60m, finishing in 7.94.

In the triple jump, Taylor squeaked by her own school record (40-9 1/2) with her leap of 40-10 1/4. She also broke the Klotsche Center mark of 40-0 1/4. Reigna Pierce took second in the event with a strong showing of 39-5 1/4, just three quarters of a second off her PR. The duo also topped the field in the long jump, with Pierce leading the way at 19-2 for first and Taylor 18-10 3/4 for second. Pierce's jump moved her to fifth in school history, while Taylor leapt to No. 9.

Elise Sigg posted another win, this time pacing the field in the mile run by over nine seconds. She finished the event in 4:58.49 for the third-best time in school history. Other Panther winners included Kaufmann in the 600m and Chantel McConville in the high jump. Kaufmann ran to victory in her event with a time of 1:36.26, with Erika Hansen taking third in 1:40.00. McConville, meanwhile, cleared a height of 5-4 1/4 for her win.

Milwaukee also received runner-up showings in the 300m, pole vault and shot put. In the 300m, Grant took second to her sister, MU's Stephanie Grant, with a time of 42.03. Burrows was third in 42.37. Erin Havener cleared 11-7 3/4 in the pole vault for second, with Courtney Fisher third at 11-1 3/4. Lastly, Moriah Myles threw 39-1 as runner-up in the shot put.

The Panthers return to action next weekend, heading back to Madison for second time this season to compete at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational. The meet gets underway Friday and continues Saturday.