2008 Outdoor Top Times/Individual Finishes in PDF Format

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (April 2, 2008) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's track and field team continues the early portion of its 2008 outdoor schedule this weekend when it heads to Charleston, Ill., for the Big Blue Classic.

Hosted by Eastern Illinois, the meet kicks off Friday and runs through Saturday. Meanwhile, juniors Holly Nearman and Erin Magargee and sophomore Laura Ring will head to the Stanford Invitational.

Four different Panthers won events at the Big Blue Classic last year, as they took second place by just 17 points. Amber Curtis led the way with school record in both the discus and hammer throw, winning the discus. Angie Huebner also won the 5000m, Jenni Saarinen the long jump and Reigna Pierce the triple jump.

UWM heads back to Illinois after opening up the outdoor season at a meet hosted by Southern Illinois last weekend. Milwaukee finished third out of five teams at the meet last weekend, getting the season off to a good start.

Juniors Beth Zimmerman and Jes Weyandt each won events and led 15 top-five finishers for the Panthers at the meet. Zimmerman won the triple jump, leaping 38-5 ½, and Weyandt cleared 11-1 ¾ in the pole vault. Aside from the pair of wins, the Panthers also had three second-place showings as Nearman was runner-up in the 1500m, sophomore Kelsey Conrad took second in the 200m and UWM was second in the 4x400m relay.

Nearman cruised through two events on the day, running 4:40.56 in the 1500m for the eighth-fastest time in school history. She also got her workout in by competing alone in a heat of the 800m and taking fourth in the event. Despite running solo, and in a shorter event to which she is accustomed, she still pulled off a time of 2:19.66.

For her efforts, Nearman was named the Horizon League Athlete of the Week this week.

Milwaukee capped its indoor season with as runner-up at the Horizon League Indoor Championships. The Panthers finished among the top two at the meet for the 11th-straight season. They enter the outdoor season as reigning league outdoor champs and will look to make it back-to-back outdoor crowns at the league meet May 8-9 in Youngstown, Ohio.

The Panthers will be in action next at the Sea Ray Relays next weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.