Marquette's distance runners performed well last weekend at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind., one of the most prestigious indoor track competitions in the country.

Junior Michaela Courtney and sophomore Cassie Peller finished back-to-back in the mile run, with Courtney fourth at 4:48.58 and Peller fifth at 4:49.57.

"I was hoping to run faster this weekend, but for not feeling very good during the race I'm not to upset," Courtney said. "It was nice to have Cassie in the same race, and she ran for a personal record."

For the men, senior Jon Shaffer placed 16th in the 800 meter run at 1:54.23, qualifying him for the Big East Championships along with senior David Henderson in the 3000m, sophomore Kyle Saginus in the 5000m and sophomore Jed Burey in the 1000m.

Other Marquette indoor track athletes ran at the Akron Open in Ohio last weekend, which also gave them a chance to qualify for the Big East Championships, which are also in Akron in two weeks.

Seniors Terri Emond and Allison Sauer finished seventh and eighth in the 5000m, helping to qualify them for the Big East Championships.

Senior Emily Leklem finished fifth in flight two for the shot put, and sophomore Jessica Ehlen was fifth in flight four as they both advanced to the Big East Championships.

Junior Kristina Malin sprinted to a second place finish in 2:16.83 in the 800m to qualify her for the Big East Championships as well.

For the men at Akron, junior Zach Pawlowski (15'0") qualified in the pole vault and finished third. Also qualifying for the Big East Championships for the men were sophomore Raymond Bratchett in the high jump (6'9 3/4") and junior Damian Anisko in the weight throw.

"Overall it was a good weekend, with several more Big East qualifiers and with two more weeks of preparation, I think we will be ready for our first ever Big East indoor conference championships," said head coach Dave Uhrich.