Golden Eagles Conclude Competition At John McDonnell Invitational

April 18, 2009

MILWAUKEE-- The Marquette University track and field squad finished off another weekend of competition Saturday afternoon in adverse conditions at the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.

"We had some good, solid times across the board, with a couple of very exciting events as well," said head coach Bert Rogers. "Brice Cleland set a personal-record in the 5,000 meters last night in an exciting race, and Jayne (Grebinski) in the steeplechase improved by shaving three seconds off her best time."

Junior Jayne Grebinski, running in the 3,000-meter steeplechase once again, after being named the BIG EAST Outdoor Track Athlete of the Week on March 25 for her NCAA Regional qualifying performance at the Georgia Relays, turned in another personal best in the event. Grebinski finished second with a time of 10:34.15. That time was just three seconds shy of the previous stadium record before it was broken by tonight's event winner, Rachel Carrizales of Nebraska.

Both the men's and women's hammer throw was competed Friday evening, prior to all of Saturday's events. On the men's side, co-captain Jeff Kluge recorded a BIG EAST qualifying distance of 51.20 meters (168 feet), while for the women, Jessica Ehlen, Kelley Corcoran and Jamie Roth reached BIG EAST standards with throws of 51.15 (167-10) and 50.01 (164-01) and 47.53 meters (155-11), respectively.

Friday evening in the men's 5,000-meter run, senior Scott Mueller finished third with a time of 14:35.33 and Brice Cleland placed sixth in a personal-best time of 14:42.91. Both recorded BIG EAST marks with their times.

Kluge once again reached a BIG EAST mark on Saturday morning, this time in the discus with a heave of 46.42 meters (152-03) to finish 11th. Audra Ketelsen also reached a BIG EAST standard on the women's side with a distance of 42.72 meters (140-02).

In the men's 200-meter dash, school-record holder Tyler O'Brien registered a season-best time of 21.73 seconds to reach a BIG EAST qualifying standard. O'Brien's race was run in a downpour, which forced competition to be halted for an hour due to severe weather.

Kelly Magennis continued her strong season in the javelin with a toss of 40.98 meters (134-05) to finish second in the event. Catherine Benage and freshman Lauren Benjamin each also recorded BIG EAST marks in the javelin with a throws of 39.32 meters (129-00) and 36.70 meters (120-05).

Junior Kelley Corcoran recorded a personal-best in the shot put with a BIG EAST qualifying mark of 12.86 meters (42-02.25).

In the pole vault, senior Nick Van Deraa reached 4.60 meters (15-01.00) to tie his personal best and reach a BIG EAST mark. His three attempts to reach Zach Pawlowski's school record at 4.75 meters (15-07.00) each fell short.

Alyssa Davis recorded a BIG EAST mark in the triple jump to finish seventh at 11.83 meters (38-09.75).

In the 400-meter hurdles, Michael O'Brien once again recorded a BIG EAST standard, crossing the finish line in 54.59 seconds.

In the men's steeplechase, Peter Bolgert and Blake Johnson each reached BIG EAST qualifying times to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.

The last event of the day, the men's 4x400-meter relay, saw the squad of Tyler O'Brien, Randey Fisher, Michael O'Brien and Van Deraa finished in 3:15.73 to record the the 10th-best time in school history.

Marquette also sent a split-squad to the Warrior Relays at Wisconsin Lutheran, where senior Sharon Fritz reached a personal record in the triple jump.

The Golden Eagles will return to action when they host the Marquette Twilight meet Saturday afternoon at the Melvin "Bus" Shimek Memorial Track and Field Facility at Valley Fields.