May 10, 2002

INDIANAPOLIS - Three women and three men collected titles on the second day of the Horizon League Track and Field Championships to help push the Panthers to another league title. The men edged out Butler by a score of 179-162 to win for the fifth straight time, while the women easily outdistanced Detroit 188-150 to collect their second straight and third overall title. Lynda Thiel was named the league's Outstanding Performer of the Meet for Field events, thanks to her two first-place finishes on Thursday and a fourth-place finish in the high jump on Friday. Coach Pete Corfeld was named the league's Coach of the Year for both the men's and the women's teams.

Nicole Frey claimed a title in the 200m dash, as she set a personal record by finishing in 24.91, while Katie Seep finished first in the 400m dash in a meet-record time of 57.04. Jessica Hendree also claimed first in the 400m hurdles, setting a personal record of 1:03.40. The Panthers also took first in the women's 400m relay, finishing in 47.64, and the 1600m with a meet-record time of 3:52.98

Winners on the men's side included Adam Hobler, wining the 400m dash in a new personal-record 49.29. Nick Davis took first in the high jump, clearing a new league record height of 6'9 3/4", while Ken Hunt took first in the triple jump with a jump of 50'6 1/4. The Panthers also took first in the 1600m relay, with the team of Adam Hobler, BJ Blake, Nick Viall and Joe Tuttle taking the title with a time of 3:18.27

But the individual titles weren't what pushed the Panthers to their titles. Overall depth was evident in nearly every event, as UWM had several athletes in the scoring places in nearly every event on the women's side to easily give the Panthers their second-straight title.

In the women's events, Kristy Naef and Frey took third and fourth, respectively. Naef finished in 12.37 seconds, while Frey finished with a personal-record time of 12.40. In the 200m, the Panthers took five of the six places, led by Frey's victory. Naef took third in 25.28, followed by Seep in 25.70, Teresa Braunreiter in 25.80 and Stephanie Kenesie in 26.14. Braunreiter also finished sixth in the 400m with a personal-best time of 58.89. There was more of the same in the 100m hurdles, as Naef finished second in 14.85, followed by Kenesie in third in 15.14, Jill Naus in fourth with a time of 15.37 and Michelle Fritsch in sixth with a time of 15.86. Naus also finished fourth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:05.23.

Lynda Thiel added on to her big day from yesterday by placing fourth in the high jump, clearing 5'3 3/4". Kenesie added a second-place finish in the triple jump, clearing 37'6", while Kalin Konop finished fourth with a leap of 35'10 3/4".

The men's meet wasn't as clear-cut, however. The Panthers managed to keep just ahead of the Bulldogs through most of the meet, with the score difference generally between five and fifteen points. It wasn't until the next-to-last event that UWM was able to claim their fifth-straight victory. Entering the men's 5,000m, the Panthers led Butler by 20 points. Though Butler placed runners in first, fourth and fifth, Cornelius Hill finished second in 14:41.80, giving the Panthers eight points to Butler's 14, and clinching the title for UWM.

In other men's finals, Ken Hunt finished fourth in the 100m dash with a time of 11.13, while Mike Pierrard was sixth with a time of 11.31. Pierrard also finished fifth in the 200m dash, with a time of 22.81. He was joined in the event by Hobler, who finished second in 22.31. Nick Viall joined Hobler in placing in the 400m dash, as Viall finished fourth in 49.90. Joe Tuttle added a fourth-place finish in the 800m run, finishing in 1:54.28, while Hill added another fourth-place finish in the 1,500m in 3:52.42. In the 110m hurdles, Dan O'Leary finished fourth in 15.59. O'Leary would add another fourth-place finish in the 400m hurdles with a time of 56.57. He was joined by Nick Pryor, who finished fifth in the event with a time of 56.91. The Panthers also took third place in the 400m relay with a time of 44.02.

The men dominated in men's field events on day two. Kyle Huebner finished second to Davis in the high jump, clearing 6'6". Davis would take third in the triple jump, jumping 45'3 1/2", followed by Huebner in fourth with a jump of 43'6". Jon Manke took second in both the shot put and the discus throw. Manke threw the shot 54'8 1/4" and was credited with a throw of 170'3" in the discus.