The Marquette men's and women's indoor track & field teams continued to qualify more athletes for the Big East Championship on Saturday in the Jack Johnson Minnesota Classic at the University of Minnesota.
Nagging injuries kept a few Golden Eagles home this weekend, but head coach Dave Uhrich said he was pleased with the team's performance overall.
"We were still a little rusty, and with only a week's worth of practice, the timing and technique of some of the athletes was a little off," Uhrich said. "The running events went real well."
Senior Brent Des Roches led the men, finishing second in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:11.32, five seconds off the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA Indoors Championships. Teammates senior David Henderson (8:30.55), whose time qualified him for the Big East Indoor Championship, and junior Jeremy Williams (8:37.02) finished fifth and eighth, respectively. Des Roches' time was the second fastest time in Marquette history; the school record is 7:57.80 set by Keith Hanson in 1986.
Elsewhere, sophomore Kyle Saginus ran to a ninth-place finish in the mile (4:18.95), which qualified him for the Big East Indoor Championship.
On the women's side, junior Kristina Malin set a new Marquette school record in the 600m with a time of 1:35.25 and finished fourth in the event.
Junior Michaela Courtney qualified for the Big East Indoor championship by taking third in the mile with a time of 4:49.30. In the 3,000m run Cassie Peller (10:00.31) and Heidi Lindeman (10:02.40), who placed third and fourth respectively, also qualified for the Big East Indoor Championships.
In the field, sophomore Mike Bodecker placed eighth in the weight throw, throwing 49 feet 7.25 inches and sophomore Ray Bratchett leapt to a fifth-place finish in high jump with a jump of 6 feet 6.75 inches.
Season-best throws from senior Emily Leklem in the shot put (45 feet 6/14 inches, third place) and Jessi Ehlen in the weight throw (54 feet 2 inches, fifth place) highlighted the women's field events.
Uhrich expressed satisfaction with how his team has progressed in the early season.
"We have a pretty young team and with this being our first year in the Big East, I believe we are doing very well," Uhrich said.
The Golden Eagles continue their indoor season this Friday in South Bend, Ind. at the Notre Dame Invitational. Uhrich said he will keep his athletes focused on making the Big East Indoor Championships.
"Week by week, we want to get people qualified for the Big East," he said. "With some more practice, I think we'll start to see the technical event people start to pick it up."