MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Feb. 25, 2009) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team heads to Indianapolis, Ind., this weekend for the 2009 Horizon League Indoor Championships.

The Panthers will be in search of their sixth league indoor crown when the league teams converge on Indy Saturday and Sunday Feb. 28-March 1.

Milwaukee is coming off a successful final tune-up, scoring three wins in dual-meet scoring at its own UWM Panther Tune-Up last weekend at the Klotsche Center. The Panthers won eight events, including two by junior Kelsey Conrad, and swept league foes UIC and Loyola and Chicago State.

Conrad was victorious in both the 60m and 200m, running a Klotsche-record 24.92 in the 200m. It was her third-straight meet running a sub-25.00 time. She enters the league championship leading the league in three events. In the 60m, her time from the Panther Tune-Up of 7.72 is tops, while her best 200m time of 24.86 converted to a league-best 24.72 when track size was taken into consideration. Lastly, her best 400m time is a converted 56.70.

She isn't the only Panther atop the league in the events entering the weekend. Junior Erin Havener has won the league pole vault title, and broken the league record doing so, at both the indoor and outdoor meets in her first two seasons. Her best height this season is 11-7 3/4 and has her as the favorite to once again repeat.

Junior Emily Budde leads the league in the pentathlon with her score of 3,200, while the Panthers' 4x400m relay is also currently No. 1. UWM has a number of athletes that are second in their respective events including junior Reigna Pierce in both the long and triple jumps, sophomore Chelsea Von Ruden in the high jump and junior Jamie Woods in the shot put.

Milwaukee last won the league indoor crown in 2007, the second of back-to-back titles. In addition to its league-record five championships, the Panthers have also finished second a league-record six times. In fact, in the 14 years UWM has competed in the Horizon League, it has finished outside the top two just three times and just once in the last 12 seasons.

Conrad and Havener swept this week's Horizon League awards, giving Milwaukee four weekly award winners during the indoor season. Conrad was also honored with the track athlete of the week award Feb. 2 and Woods won the field award Jan. 19.

After the league championships, the Panthers will make one last attempt at qualifying athletes for the NCAA Championship, competing at the Alex Wilson Classic, March 6-7, in South Bend, Ind.