Freshmen Pace The Way For Men's Track and FieldMarch 27, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's track and field team entered the outdoor season on the heels of a league indoor season championship and they were hungry for more. Competing at the Purdue Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind. the Panther men had outstanding performances, but the day belonged to Jeremy Majors and Ben Uphoff. Majors and Uphoff, both freshmen distance runners, came into the weekend looking to shine. Questionable weather aside, they both achieved their goal. Majors ran the 800-meter run to a first-place time of 1:54.76. Uphoff, from New London, ran his way to a win in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:28.27. The underclassmen's performance was just a catapult to a good day for the Panther men. Eric Gresham, competing in the 400-meter run, gave a solid performance by finishing second with a time of 49.95. Joining Majors in the 800-meter run were Gabe Wagoner, Adam Swanson and Elliot Enright. Wagoner claimed second with a time of 1:55.51 while Swanson and Enright finished fourth and fifth. Ryne Leuzinger finished fourth behind Uphoff in the 5,000-meter run.
Other Panther made an impact on the meet. Freshman Justin Gorman finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:59.50. Sophomore Josh Nygren finished eighth in the event, but added a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:32.14. Junior Micah Hanthorn finished eighth for UWM in the steeplechase. Nate Weiland and Bryan Hassemer finished second and third in the 10,000-meter run. Weiland ran the event in a time of 32:09.13 and Hassemer completed it with a time of 32:23.81. The Panthers also claimed a first-place finish in the 1600-meter relay with a winning time of 3:20.16.
The UWM runners weren't the only contributors to the day as the field event competitors also had something to add. Sean Cludy claimed second in the triple jump with a leap of 45' 6.25". Junior Kyle Huebner added a third-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 163' 8". Nick Gretz added two fifth-place finished with one coming in the discus and the other in the shot put. Nick Wichert finished ninth in the hammer throw and 10th in the discus. The Panthers will return home for practices for the week and will head off to Charleston, Ill. where they will compete in the Big Blue Invitational. The event will last two days and will start on Friday, April 2 at 2 p.m. |
