Malin set a Marquette record in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:24.59, winning the race and qualifying for the Big East Indoor Championship in the process.,”

Senior Kristina Malin turned in a spectacular outing among many strong performances by members of the women's track team at the Iowa State Open in Ames, Iowa, Saturday.

Malin set a Marquette record in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:24.59, winning the race and qualifying for the Big East Indoor Championship in the process. The record time was no shock to Malin, though, because she already holds the school record in the 500-meter and 600-meter races.

"I kind of expected to break the record going into the race based on past times," she said. "I thought it was a possibility. Plus we were facing really good competition, so that adds an extra push."

Malin was one of six Golden Eagles from the women's team to qualify for the conference championship. All six qualified on day two of the Iowa State Open.

Freshman Jayne Grebinski qualified in the mile (5:05.91), and freshman Katlin Millin qualified in the 800-meter run (2:14.62). Junior Cassie Peller, who qualified for the mile in a previous meet, also will run in the 800m at the Big East Championship.

Marquette thus far has qualified for 14 spots in different events at the conference meet. Head coach Dave Uhrich said he would like to bring 20 athletes from each team to the conference meet in February, though the women's team may prove stronger than the men's.

For the men, senior Tommy Schmitz was the only qualifier. He finished fifth in the 1,000m after jumping out to an early start. Despite qualifying with a time of 2:28.97, Schmitz was hard on himself.

"You always want to win the race," he said. "And I had a chance to do that. I'm pretty disappointed with it. I expected a lot more, and it was kind of a pitiful performance."

Uhrich was less critical of Schmitz and the team as a whole.

"We had a few guys who weren't too far off from qualifying," Uhrich said. "So that was a little disappointing. But with another week of practice they should be able to do it this weekend."

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