Jan. 25, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Marquette men's and women's track team concluded a day at the Notre Dame Invitational held at the Loftus Sports Center on Notre Dame's campus. The Marquette men earned 64 team points, while the women earned 73 points in the three team meet, which also featured host Notre Dame and Michigan State.

"We're still improving and we're on our way to where we want to be," head coach Bert Rogers said. "We want to do better as a team, but this was a good indicator of where we are. We had some more BIG EAST qualifiers and overall we improved again this week."

On the men's side, Tyler O'Brien placed third in the 200m dash, finishing in 22.48. Eric Meissner and Mike McCarthy had a big night in the 800m run, finishing in 1:53.89 and 1:54.50 respectively. Both times were personal best for the athletes, as well as BIG EAST qualifying marks.

Nick Szczech also achieved a personal best in the 3,000m, crossing the line in 8:34.69 for fifth place. Mike Laabs finished third in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.85.

The men excelled in the high jump with Nick Byom and Ray Bratchett finishing in first and second respectively. Byom cleared a personal-best, 2.01m, while Bratchett cleared 1.96m.

For the women, Katie McKenney finished third in the 500m dash with a person-best 1:16.28, and a BIG EAST qualifier.

Finishing in fifth place, Cassie Peller ran a 4:58.93, to hit a BIG EAST qualifying mark. Kaitlin Millin also ran a BIG EAST qualifying mark in the 800m, crossing the line in 2:16.35.

Jayne Grebinski was second in the 3,000m with a 9:55.31, while Anna Weber crossed the line in 10:03.01.

Erynn James claimed the high jump clearing 1.66m. The throwers excelled with Rachel Thiel and Jenna Mahaffey throwing 13.37m and 13.21m respectively in the shot put. Mahaffey and Kelly Corcoran threw 16.07 m and 14.14m in the weight throw.

The Golden Eagles will head to Bloomington, Ind. to compete in the Indiana Relays on Feb. 1 and 2.