The Marquette track program posted a well-rounded effort at Indiana State's Pacesetter Invitational this weekend in Terre Haute, Ind., scoring points in a myriad of events to finish third on the women's side and fourth on the men's.
The Golden Eagles got most of their key athletes back from injury after a depleted roster turned in a subpar performance at the EIU Big Blue Classic April 9.
Freshman Cassie Peller led the women's team, setting a school freshman record in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:13.95 and finishing second at the meet. Her time breaks the mark of 2:14.97 set by current senior teammate Brianna Dahm in 2001. Fellow freshman Kaitlyn Chambers finished fourth in the 800 meters.
The throwing teams continued their stellar seasons. Junior Emily Leklem recorded her second consecutive victory in the women's shot put, winning with a throw of 46-4 1/4. Leklem set the school record in the event last week.
Senior Andrea Engelmann finished fourth in the hammer throw with a heave of 51.93 feet, and freshman Jessica Ehlen followed with a throw of 46.08 feet. On the men's side, senior Jonathon Rosploch finished third in the shot put with a heave of 52.5 feet.
Dahm placed second while competing in her first 3000-meter steeplechase since she was named an All-American in the event two years ago. Her time of 11:04.59 placed her 25 seconds behind the leader, Amber Ferner of Purdue.
"Brianna was definitely rusty, but it was good to see her compete, and she still finished second in the event," Marquette head coach Dave Uhrich said.
Sophomore Michaela Courtney placed second in the 1,500 meters, the event in which she is the school record-holder. Her time of 4:32.81 earned the Golden Eagles eight team points, while teammate sophomore Shannon Oster was right behind her with a fourth-place finish.
"Michaela was in the lead for the whole race, but she got caught right at the end," Uhrich said.
Andalcio-O'Neil picked up right where she left off before she fell ill with the flu, with fourth place finishes in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Juniors Susanna Emond and Allison Sauer also turned in solid performances for the Golden Eagles, finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the 5,000-meter run.
On the men's side, Jed Burey continued his surprising freshman campaign with a second-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:53.78. Sophomore Jeremy Williams took second in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:30.27, junior Matt Piekarski threw the javelin 173-8 for a second-place finish and freshman Ray Bratchett leapt 6-2 3/4 in the high jump to finish fifth.
"It was a good all-around effort for us," Uhrich said of the meet. "We scored points in a lot of different events, and on the guys' side we rebounded from not doing so well at Eastern Illinois …We just want to improve a little bit each week and get a little stronger, a little more technically sound and a little faster."
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 19 2005.