May 12, 2005

Results

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Junior Stephanie Ray and freshman Joy VanLaanen each won individual titles to lead the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team to second place after the first day of the 2005 Horizon League Championships, Thursday afternoon in Indianapolis, Ind. The Panthers have 50 points at the mid-way point, trailing Detroit which has 59.

Ray repeated as outdoor pole vault champion, as she finished with a final height of 11-0. The Racine native has won the last three pole vault crowns, as she was indoor champion earlier this season. In the long jump, VanLaanen cleared 18-9 1/4 for her first league championship. Junior Katie Slamka also scored in the event, placing fifth with a leap of 17-10 1/2.

Slamka is busy over the meet, as she also placed second in the javelin and currently sits first in the heptathlon. She threw 122-9 1/4 in the javelin, while scoring 2704 points on the first day of the heptathlon. Junior Jodi Hrdina is third in the heptathlon with 2343 points.

UWM posted top-three finishers in a pair of distance events, as senior Anna Christian took second in the 10,000m. Christian finished with a time of 37:34.52 to narrowly edge freshman Angie Huebner, who posted a time of 37:34.53. Junior Katie Anderson also took third in the 3000m steeplechase, crossing the line in 11:21.20.

Day one of the event also saw Panthers top the preliminaries in four events. Sophomore Timeka Walker placed first in both the 100m and 200m prelims with times of 12.34 and 25.56. Junior Griffin McNulty led the 800m after doing so at the indoor meet in February, this time crossing the line in 2:19.95. In the 400m hurdles, sophomore Taryn Cozine paced the field in 1:04.75.

The Horizon League Championships continues on Friday. Milwaukee is in search for its first crown since the 2003, when it won three-straight. UWM has has taken second on each of the last three indoor and outdoor league meets.