On the long drive from Milwaukee to Mobile, Ala., one of the buses carrying the Marquette men's and women's track teams broke down, leaving the Golden Eagles stranded for six hours "somewhere in Kentucky," according to senior sprinter Crystal Andalcio-O'Neil.

Due to the bus difficulties, Marquette did not arrive at its hotel until 2:30 a.m. With the pre-meet preparations starting early in the morning, most of Marquette's athletes had only three or four hours of sleep before competing.

Given the collective state of the Marquette athletes when they arrived for the USA Jaguar Premier, the fact that the Golden Eagles won 10 events and set two school records in the pole vault becomes all the more impressive.

The women's team won seven events and freshman pole vaulter Kristin Stoniecki, who finished second, set a school record with a leap of 11 feet.

"Because we got in so late, we took the approach to this meet that we were just going to go out and do the best we could," assistant coach Bert Rogers said.

"Some people were really affected by it and some weren't. For example, Crystal just shook it off and went after it."

Andalcio-O'Neil won both the 100 and 200 meter dashes, setting a personal best in the 100 in the process with a time of 12.14.

Andalcio-O'Neil must get accustomed to running the 100 meters as opposed to the 60 meter dash she ran during the indoor season.

"I felt really good after 60 until 70 meters, but it was a struggle after that," she said. "It's something that will come along every week. My goal for this season is to place in conference, but much higher than at indoors."

Andalcio-O'Neil finished sixth in the 60 meter dash at the Conference USA Championships.

The women's distance teams dominated the meet and won the 1,500 and 3,000 meter runs. Sophomore Michaela Courtney won the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:44.67.

Marquette athletes claimed first through sixth place in the 3,000 meters, with junior Jodi Jakubek winning the race in 9:57.02.

In the women's weight events, junior Emily Leklem won the shot put with a throw of 41-1 3/4 feet, freshman Jessica Ehlen won the discus with a heave of 132-10 1/2 and senior Andrea Engelmann threw the hammer 151-6 1/2 to capture the crown in that event.

Sophomore Zach Palowski led the charge on the men's side by clearing 15 feet in the pole vault and set a school record.

The 4×400-meter relay team of Jon Shaffer, Ryan Seebruck, Joe Pierre and Matt Piekarski won its event with a time of 3:21.50.

Ray Bratchett won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.04.

Sophomore Damian Anisko finished second in the discus with a throw of 150-3 1/4 and in the hammer throw with a heave of 146-4 1/4.

"Overall, it was a typical first meet of the season," Rogers said. "Some people looked rusty, but we set a few school records too."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on March 31 2005.