Track Hosts UWM in Dual Meet Action on Good Friday

April 8, 2009

MILWAUKEE-- The Marquette University track and field squad will take on Wisconsin-Milwaukee in a rare inter-city dual meet Friday afternoon at the Melvin "Bus" Shimek Memorial Track and Field Facility at Valley Fields.

"We are excited to host a dual meet with UWM," said head coach Bert Rogers. "The dual meet format at the collegiate level is something that has almost become extinct over the past 20-or-so years."

Events begin with the men's pole vault at 2 p.m. in the Marquette Gym at 16th Street and Clybourn Street. The javelin, discus and hammer throw will follow at 3 p.m. at the MU Throws Field located at 8th and Canal Street.

The field events taking place at the Melvin "Bus" Shimek Memorial Track and Field Facility at Valley Fields will commence at 3 p.m. with the horizontal jumps, followed by high jump at 5:30 p.m. and shot put at 6 p.m.

Running events will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the women's 100-meter dash and will conclude at 7:45 p.m. with the men's 4x400-meter relay.

Each team will be allowed unlimited entries in each event, however only the top two finishers in individual events and top placing relay from each squad will be scored.

"This is one of the few meets we have in which our sole focus is winning, and chasing qualifying marks is secondary," Rogers said. "When we first set this meet up we felt that a dual meet with UWM would be an excellent opportunity to showcase some of the great track and field talent right here in the city of Milwaukee, at Marquette and UWM. We hope to put on a good show for the students, alumni and our fans."

After near misses at the Duke/asics invitational, Randey Fisher and Michael O'Brien will look to hit the BIG EAST qualifying standard in the 400 and Eric Meissner in the 800.

On the women's side senior thrower Jessica Ehlen will continue her push to reach an NCAA qualifying distance (47.30 meters) in the discus after coming up just a centimeter short at the UTEP Springtime Invitational on March 28.

Scoring will be available following the meet on GoMarqette.com