April 11, 2008

Marquette University head track and field coach Bert Rogers was hoping to send a full squad down to Macomb, Ill. for this weekend's Lee Calhoun Memorial hosted by Western Illinois. However, poor weather conditions have forced the team to reconsider its plans and MU will now send a limited number of participants, mainly throwers, to the meet.

"We decided with the weather forecast as it is - temperatures in the upper 30s and a rain, snow mix - that it would be more beneficial for the long-term goals of our team to get a good workout in this weekend," said Rogers. "We've had such a strong first few meets of the season that I'm pretty comfortable where we are at for the majority of the runners and jumpers."

As of this week, 25 Golden Eagles have qualified for the 2008 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championships, while another five student-athletes have had regional qualifying marks, including Rachel Thiel in the shot put.

"It will be a good chance for us to hopefully add some more qualifiers for the BIG EAST meet, and maybe even a regional qualifier," said associate head coach and throws coach Mike Koenning, "We're just looking at this as an opportunity to compete. There should be some really good competition, but our approach is that this is more of an opportunity to work on our skills rather than focus on the conditions."

A total of 14 intercollegiate programs were scheduled to compete at Western Illinois this weekend. The throw events will begin at approximately 9 a.m. on Saturday.