Jan. 17, 2013

2013 ILLINI CLASSIC
The U of I Armory | Champaign, Ill. 
Saturday, Jan. 19
Meet Schedule/Program (PDF) 

Follow Marquette track and field on Twitter: @MUTFXC

MILWAUKEE – Fresh off of a successful tune-up at the University of Wisconsin’s Badger Track Classic following a month-long break from action, the Marquette University’s men and women’s track and field teams look to continue momentum on Saturday, Jan. 19 in Champaign, Ill., at the Illini Classic.

Events at the U of I Armory will kick off with the field events at 9 a.m. starting with the women’s weight throw. Events on the track will begin at 11 a.m. with the women’s 400-meter dash of the blue session. The highest-seeded entries in the track events will begin at 2:30 p.m., with the finals of the 60-meter hurdles in the orange session.

“We are excited to return to the Illinois for an indoor meet for the first time in a number of years,” Marquette head coach Bert Rogers said. “The meet looks to be shaping up as a good one.  We are looking to continue to build off of our successes last week.”

Marquette, which has not competed at the Illinois Classic since Feb. 3, 2001, will compete alongside Illinois, Lincoln (Mo.), SIU-Edwardsville, SIU-Carbondale and Western Illinois.

Redshirt sophomore Bret Hardin will be one of many Marquette athletes to keep an eye on this weekend after a breakthrough performance in his season debut in Madison. Hardin recorded a personal-best distance in the weight throw by reaching a mark of 58 feet, 5 3/4 inches (17.82 meters). Hardin will receive a challenge from University of Illinois senior Brett Ramirez, who owns a personal-best of 61 feet (18.58 meters) in the same event.

For a second straight week, senior Kyle Winter will compete in the 600-meter run with the hopes of breaking his personal best of 1:19.22, and the school record time of 1:19.21. Winter finished first with a time of 1:21.25 last week at the Badger Track Classic, but will be focused on running faster at the U of I Armory on a quicker track.

For the Marquette women, freshmen Molly Hanson and Tatyana Pashibin are back in action after event victories in the 1,000-meter run and high jump, respectively, at the Badger Track Classic.

Hanson will drop down to the 800-meter run this weekend (along with a potential leg in the 4x400-meter relay), while Pashibin will continue to raise the bar in the high jump and also compete in the triple jump.

Senior Lauren Darnall will attempt to win the women’s pole vault in her third-consecutive meet to start the season. Darnall captured pole vault titles at the Blue & Gold Invitational (Dec. 7) and Badger Track Classic last weekend.

The University Illinois track and field team features two coaching staff members quite familiar with Marquette. Illini assistant coach Mike Erb spent the 2008 season as an assistant at Marquette, where he was responsible for coaching the long and triple jumpers as well as the multi-event athletes. Volunteer women’s coach Tom Sage competed as a decathlete for Marquette (2005-08), and qualified for the conference championship meet all four years.

Marquette’s Meet Entries – Illini Classic – Jan. 19

Women
Sarah Ball – 800m, 4x400 pool
Melissa Budelier – Mile, 4x400 pool
Abby Croft – Pole Vault
Lauren Darnall – Pole Vault
Nicole Ethier – 600m, 4x400 pool
Chanel Franklin – 60m, 200m
Kristen Gaffey – Shot Put
Kellie Greenwood – Mile
Molly Hanson – 800m, 4x400 pool
Kate Hein – 400m, 4x400 pool
Gretchen Homan – 400m, 4x400 pool
Katie Kemmerer – 60m, 200m, 4x400 pool
Kathryn Koeck – Weight Throw
Haley Loprieno – 3000m
Sarah MacCourtney – High Jump
Grace Magliola – 800m, 4x400 pool
Krista McClure – 600m, 4x400 pool
Rebecca Pachuta – 3000m
Tatyana Pashibin – High Jump, Triple Jump
Laura Schweikert – 400m, 4x400 pool
Kayla Spencer – Mile, 4x400m pool
Katie Tolan – 600m, 4x400 pool
Kirsten Walker – Shot Put 

Men
Spencer Agnew – Mile
Cheldon Brown – High Jump
Connor Callahan – Mile
David Carbajal – Shot Put, Weight Throw
Brendan Franz – Mile, 4x400 pool
Bret Hardin – Weight Throw
William Hennessy – Mile, 4x400 pool
John Kaplan – Pole Vault
Max Kilpin – High Jump
William Koeck – Weight Throw
Mitch Lacy – Mile, 4x400 pool
Glenn Lawrence – 400m, 200m, 4x400 pool
Vinny Martello – Pole Vault
D.T. McDonald – Mile, 4x400 pool
Anton Rice – 600m, 4x400 pool
Michael Saindon – High Jump
Ben Schmitz – 800m, 4x400 pool
Jack Senefeld – Mile
Ryan Shields – 800m, 4x400 pool
Connor Stengel – 600m, 4x400 pool
Patrick Stuart – Shot Put
Andres Tineo-Paz – Mile
Kyle Winter – 600m, 4x400 pool