May 6, 2006

Click here for full men's results
Click here for full women's results

STORRS, Conn. -- After the first full day of competition at the 2006 BIG EAST Championships, the Marquette men's outdoor track & field team sits in seventh place (21 points), while the women are tied for 11th (11 points). Louisville leads the men, with 61 points, while Syracuse is tops for the women with 53 points.

Senior Matt Piekarski held on to capture the decathlon this afternoon, with a career-best total of 7,236 points. He was trailing Sean Berg of Connecticut by 59 points heading into the final event - the 1,500m run - but blew away the field by more than seven seconds, with a 4:36.59 clocking. His point total provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Championship. It was also the first BIG EAST championship - individual or team - for Marquette. Teammate Tom Sage finished up 12th overall in the two-day, 10-event performance (5,307 points).

"It was huge for our program to win an event in our first year in such a great conference for track and field." said head coach Dave Uhrich. "Matt did a great job of winning the decathlon in the final event and in the process provisionally qualifying for NCAA's and smashing the school record. It's a real testament to his senior leadership and his hard work."

In other events, Jeremy Williams finished seventh overall in the finals of the 3,000m steeplechase. The junior clocked 9:12.68. David Henderson was 18th, in 9:38.22. Raymond Bratchett finished third overall in the high jump, clearing 6'8 1/4" (2.04m). The sophomore was second in the same event during the 2006 conference's indoor championship.

Jeff Kluge finished just out of the points in the shot put, coming ninth overall with a heave of 49'3 1/2" (15.02m). Teammate Andy Ballard was 10th in the shot, with a toss of 48'10 3/4" (14.90m), but did finish seventh in the discus throw (158'4"/48.25m). Damian Anisko was close behind, in eighth place (158'2"/48.22m). Michael Bodecker was 17th (140'1"/42.71m) and Jeff Kluge was 18th (139'5"/42.49m).

Jed Burey finished sixth overall in the trial heats of the 800m, in a personal-best time of 1:51.58, advancing to tomorrow afternoon's final. Jon Shaffer was 20th in the trials (1:54.61) and did not advance. Loren Wagner was 21st in the trials of the 400m hurdles, crossing the line in 57.08.

On the women's side, Terri Emond earned a regional qualifying time in the 3,000m steeplechase final, en route to finishing sixth overall in a time of 10:50.05. Tara Hinke was 14th overall in the steeple, clocking 11:18.93. Susie Emond finished ninth in the finals of the 10,000m run in a time of 36:47.96. Alli Sauer was 17th (38:41.07). Kristina Malin clocked 2:14.46 in the trials of the 800m, finishing 12th.

Carrie Schmid was seventh overall in the pole vault final, clearing a height of 11'11 3/4" (3.65m). Kristin Stoniecki was 11th (11'5 3/4"/3.50m). Jenna Mahaffey was just out of the points in the shot put, finishing ninth overall with a toss of 43'7 3/4" (13.30m). She did finish fourth in the discus, earning a qualifying mark to the NCAA Regionals, with a heave of 156'7" (47.73m).

Jessi Ehlen was eighth in the discus (145'9"/44.42m), while also placing 15th in the shot (39'11 1/2"/12.18m). Emily Leklem was 16th in the shot put (39'8 1/2"/12.10m). Audra Ketelsen was 16th in the discus (133'5"/40.66m), while teammate Heather Thomason was 23rd (109'1"/33.25m). Ketelsen also was 14th in the javelin throw (119'0"/36.28m) while Amy Stoniecki was 21st (99'9"/30.40m).

"Both Jenna Mahaffey and Terri Emond had terrific performances today." Uhrich said. "Not only did they score points, but they also earned Regional qualifying marks. Overall, it was a good day for us and hopefully the good perfomances will continue into tomorrow."

The Golden Eagles wrap up BIG EAST's tomorrow afternoon. CSTV will continue to tape the action, which will be condensed to one hour and televised via tape delay on May 15 at 7:00 p.m. CT. Former USA Olympian and two-time bronze medalist high jumper Dwight Stones will be providing play-by-play commentary, while Lewis Johnson will provide the analysis.