MILWAUKEE, Wis. (April 20, 2011) - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee track and field teams head to Indiana this weekend for the PolyTan Invitational.

Hosted by Indiana in Bloomington, the meet kicks off Thursday with the start of multi-events and continues through Saturday.

Head Coach Pete Corfeld On This Weekend's Meet
"We're still chasing some good weather, but we should get some higher temperatures this weekend. We are inching closer to the conference meet and trying to get everything out of ourselves to be ready. The weather hasn't helped that to this point, so we're hoping for the best for conditions and everybody to ready to put it out there to get ready (for the league championships). We have willing people, but are looking to catch some weather to see their efforts come to fruition.

Last Time Out
Milwaukee had a busy competition schedule least weekend, sending athletes to four different meets. The bulk of the team competed at Purdue's Dave Rankin Invitational, while a handful of Panthers went to California and saw action in three meets. The highlight of the weekend was school records in the men's pole vault and 110m hurdles events.

Ben Crogan reset his own school record in the pole vault at the Rankin, raising the standard 10 inches when he cleared 16-10 3/4. Garrett Vetesnik also surpassed the former mark, clearing 16-2 3/4 for second in school history. On the track, Busby lowered his hurdles mark for the third-straight weekend, running 14.20 at the Beach Invitational in Norwalk, Calif. He has lowered the record from the old mark of 14.40 entering the season.

On the women's side, Calanetta Burrows won the 400m hurdles at the Rankin and Chiamaka Okonkwo ran top-10 finishes at a pair of meets out West. Burrows paced her event with a time of 1:01.35, which is just off her personal best. Okonkwo took third in the 100m hurdles at the Bryan Clay Invitational and was ninth at the Beach Invite.

Up And Over
Crogan and Vetesnik made short work of the school pole vault record. Vetesnik entered the competition at 14-9 and cleared his first two heights on his first try and his third height on his second. He then broke the school record with a personal-best height of 16-2 3/4 on his first attempt. Meanwhile, Crogan passed until 15-3 and cleared the bar on five-straight vaults on his way to a new record.

Not to be outdone, Erin Havener broke her own school record in the pole vault a week prior, clearing 13-1 1/2. She is the first woman in school history to clear the 13-foot mark, indoors or outdoors, and raised her record by six inches.

Award Season
Crogan was Milwaukee's second athlete of the week of the outdoor season this week, while five Panthers were named to academic all-league teams on Wednesday. Crogan collected his weekly honor after his record-breaking performance at the Rankin Invite.

Havener, Elise Sigg, Kristi Schuette and Angie Kaufmann were named to the academic all-league team on the women's side, while Dan Simon was named to the men's team.

Running To Regionals
The top 48 athletes in most events qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships and UWM currently has six athletes ranked that high over seven events. Havener is the highest-ranked Panther, sitting 21st in the West region in the pole vault and 34th nationally. Samia Taylor is 22nd regionally (40th nationally) in the triple jump, while Reigna Pierce is 45th in the long jump (80th) and 36th in the triple jump.

On the men's side, Crogan and Busby's performances last weekend have them in the top 30 in the region. Crogan is 24th in the pole vault (40th) and Busby is 29th in the 110m hurdles (56th). If the regular season ended today, Scott Erickson would qualify in the discus throw, sitting 48th (86th).

As a team, Milwaukee's women are ranked No. 15 in this week's USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Poll.

Next Time Out
The Panthers head to the Drake Relays next weekend in their final preparations for the 2011 Horizon League Championships, May 6-8, in Indianapolis, Ind.