Feb. 22, 2005

Complete Release in PDF Format

All-Time Panther League Champions

MILWAUKEE, Wis.--The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team will be looking for its fourth Horizon League Indoor Championship since 2000 in the 2005 installment, Feb. 26-27, in Greencastle, Ind. The Panthers placed second at last year's meet after winning championships in 2000, 2001 and 2003.

A Look At The UWM Panther Tune Up
Three Panthers set school records to lead Milwaukee to a perfect 3-0 mark at its own UWM Panther Tune Up. UWM scored victories over league foes Loyola and Illinois-Chicago, as well as crosstown rival Marquette. Tenia Fisher in the 400m and Stephanie Ray in the pole vault each set Klotsche Center records in breaking their own school marks from earlier in the season.

Last Year's Horizon League Indoor Championships
Tenia Fisher won the 400m, and Iris Perez claimed the 200m conference crown, to lead Milwaukee to a second-place showing at the Horizon League Championships. Fisher was named Outsanding Track Performer of the Meet and, subsequently, Indoor Athlete of the Year. She was one of six more athletes to take second for UWM, including Timeka Walker, Griffin McNulty, Jodi Hrdina, Stephanie Ray and the 4x400m relay

Oops... I Did It Again... And Again
For the third weekend in a row junior Tenia Fisher broke a school record as she reset the 400m standard for the second time this season. Her time of 56.47 eclipsed the mark of 57.10 Fisher set Feb. 5 and established a Klotsche Center record. She has also broken her own 800m record this season, doing so on Feb. 12, while falling just shy of the 600m mark on Jan. 22 with the second-fastest time in school history.

Up And Over
Another Panther making a habit of breaking her own school records is junior Stephanie Ray. Ray, who broke the school record in the pole vault at the season's first meet, reset her mark by clearing 12-1 3/4 at the UWM Panther Tune Up. Her height is four inches higher then the next-best height on the team and almost 14 inches over the rest of the league.

One More For Posterity
You cannot mention record-breakers from last weekend without bringing up sophomore Timeka Walker's run in the 60m. Walker was another Panther record-holder to do herself one better last weekend, winning the event in a record time of 7.64. A high school teammate of Fisher's, she eclipsed her previous mark of 7.75 set last season.

Happy Happy, Joy Joy
Freshman Joy VanLaanen had tied Ray's school pole vault record of 11-7 3/4, prior to her record-breaking vault to add a bit of excitement to the competition. It was her first pole vault competition for Milwaukee. Following the event, she headed across the track facility at the Klotsche Center for the end of the long jump. VanLaanen logged two of the event's four jumps and won with a leap of 17-5 3/4.

Horizon League Championship Fast Tracks
The Panthers have not finished below third at league meet, indoors or outdoors, which they have taken once in 2002, since 1996 ... UWM has boasted an Outstanding Performer or Newcomer of the Year every year since joining the Horizon League (then MCC), except 2001 ... Milwaukee won the league title that year ... Including two last season, the Panthers have claimed 42 individual indoor titles, an average of over four per year ... Head coach Pete Corfeld has amassed 21 league coach of the year honors in his 15-year career, including four indoor women's track honors.

Up Next
UWM will head to the Alex Wilson Invitational, March 4-6, in South Bend, Ind. The Wilson Invite, hosted by Notre Dame, is a last chance qualifier for the NCAA Championships.