March 30, 2003

MILWAUKEE - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team opened the outdoor season by collecting six wins at the Western Michigan Invitational Saturday afternoon in Kalamazoo, Mich. Four different Panthers picked up wins as Milwaukee began its quest to win another Horizon League Championship.

Abby Hurst claimed first place in the 3000m run, finishing in 10:46.52. She was followed by Anna Christian in second place with a time of 10:50.69. Katie Slamka also picked up a win, winning the 400m hurdles in 1:07.18. Jill Naus added a third-place finish in that event, finishing in 1:09.31.

Lynda Thiel and Stephanie Kenesie each picked up a pair of wins, with Thiel winning the high jump and the javelin and Kenesie winning the long jump and triple jump. Thiel cleared 1.65m (5-5) in the high jump for top honors and measured out at 38.89m (127-7) in the javelin. Thiel also took second in the pole vault, clearing 3.37m (11-0.75). Kenesie won the long jump with an effort of 5.27m (17-3.5) and claimed first in the triple jump, measuring 10.99m (36-0.75). She also finished 11th in the javelin, throwing 25.58m (83-11). Kristy Naef also finished seventh in the javelin, measuring at 29.61m (97-2).

The triple jump saw three other Panthers finish directly behind Kenesie, with Michelle Fritsch taking second, Kalin Konop in third and Stephanie Ray in fourth. Fritsch cleared 10.90m (35-9.25), while Konop measured at 10.72m (35-2) and Ray had a jump of 10.28m (33-8.75). Konop and Fritsch also placed in the long jump, with Konop in third after jumping 4.87m (15-11.75) and Fritsch in fifth, measuring at 4.84m (15-10.5).

The Panthers fared well in the running events as well, with four women finishing in the top eight in the 100m dash. Nicole Frey led the way in fourth in 12.53, followed by Iris Perez in fifth in 12.56 and Sara Vanderloop in sixth in 12.57. Laura Diers was eighth in 12.80. In the 200m dash, Nicole Frey took second in 25.22 to lead five Panthers in the top eight. Vanderloop was third in 25.42, followed by Perez in fifth in 26.16. Katie Seep was seventh in 26.49, with Diers in eighth in 26.78.

Seep also took second in the 400m dash in 1:00.72, with Tenia Fisher finishing in 1:02.32, good for fourth place. In the 800m, Hurst was fifth in 2:25.96, Fisher was seventh in 2:28.70 and Teresa Braunreiter in eighth in 2:29.66. Katie Anderson took fourth in the women's 1500m run, finishing in 4:51.85. Four Panthers also finished in the top eight in the 100m hurdles, led by Naef in fourth in 15.25 and Slamka in fifth in 15.31. Naus took seventh in 15.71, with Fritsch in eighth in 15.75. The women's 4x100m relay team of Naef, Vanderloop, Diers and Frey finished fourth in 48.81.

The Panthers return to the track this weekend with a trip to Charleston, Ill., for the Eastern Illinois Invitational.