Gretz Wins Shot Put At Prestigious Drake Relays
DES MOINES, Iowa (April 27, 2007) - Senior Nick Gretz of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee men's track and field team became the first Panther to ever win an event at the prestigious Drake Relays, winning the shot put in record fashion Friday in Des Moines. Meanwhile, a handful of his teammates competed at the Janvrin Simpson College Open in nearby Indianola, Iowa. Gretz threw 60-7 3/4 in the event to take top honors. He won the event by 14 3/4 inches and broke his own school record of 57-9 1/2 by almost three feet. It was also announced after the event that he had moved from 31st in the nation to 14th, as well as to second in the region from third. UWM's relays also had a memorable day at Drake with one school record falling, another time 0.05 seconds off and one more relay posting a top-five time. The 4x200m relay of senior Trentin Edwards, junior Lynn Koepke and freshmen Tyler Bucholz and Isaiah Adams ran a time of 1:25.35 to break the school standard of 1:28.95 set last week at the Kansas Relays. In the 4x100m relay, Edwards, Koepke, Bucholz and sophomore Adam Schleis placed 13th in 41.57 to fall just 0.05 seconds shy of the school mark, also set last weekend. Bucholz also appeared with the 4x400m relay, as did Edwards, senior Jeremy Majors and sophomore Patrick Casey. The quartet was 21st with a time of 3:12.96, fourth-best in school history.
Schleis competed at both meets, which were seperated by 20 miles, also running in the 110m hurdles at Drake and competing in the long jump at Simpson College. While taking 21st in the hurdles, his time of 14.55 was a personal record and remained second, just 0.10 seconds off the school record. In the long jump, he leapt 22-9 1/4 for second place. Senior Nick Wichert highlighted the Janvrin Open by winning the weight throw with a toss of 191-8. It was the fifth-straight meet he cleared the NCAA Regional qualifying standard, and third-straight his toss has surpassed 190 feet. Junior Nick Hawley and sophomore Sean Jaehnig also had strong showings on Friday at the Janvrin. Hawley placed third in the 1500m with a time of 4:01.10 and Jaehnig tied for seventh in the pole vault with a final height of 14-7 1/4. The Drake Relays come to an end Saturday, with the first session of the day getting started at 8 a.m. |
