Schmitz led early in the 1,000 meter competition before Seton Hall sophomore Rob Novak passed him late and finished 1.,”On the legs of a standout performance, senior Tommy Schmitz would fall short of giving the track team what would have been its only first-place finish at the Indoor Big East Championship last weekend in Akron, Ohio.

Schmitz led early in the 1,000 meter competition before Seton Hall sophomore Rob Novak passed him late and finished 1.17 seconds faster than Schmitz.

Schmitz's time of 2:25.32 was the second best in Marquette history behind only current head coach Dave Uhrich, who graduated in 1985.

Uhrich did not razz Schmitz after the race.

"No, I'd never talk about that stuff. We were more just excited," said Uhrich, whose school record is 2:23.50. "Tommy is really coming into his own as a runner. Everything is clicking for him with the training and the racing."

Schmitz, a fifth-year senior who red-shirted last season, has had his best season at the collegiate level this year.

"It was a really good weekend," Schmitz said. "It was the best day ever as far as running is concerned. I was able to take out some really tough Notre Dame guys."

While Schmitz had a stellar outing, the men's and women's teams struggled to score points. The men finished 11th out of 12 teams, while the women were 11th of 15.

Uhrich talked about his teams' struggle to adjust to better competition since joining the Big East.

"We know what the Big East is all about," Uhrich said. "When we found out we were changing conferences I looked at Big East results and realized that some of our times and distances in C-USA wouldn't be competitive in the Big East."

Many Big East schools' practice facilities are superior to that of the Golden Eagles, Uhrich added.

"That slows us down in some events, especially during indoor season" Uhrich said.

While none of the women's jumpers, sprinters, or throwers cracked the top five in an event individually, the 4 x 800 meter relay squad finished third. The women were much stronger in distance running than sprinting, throwing or jumps.

Junior Cassie Peller placed second in the mile, finishing in 4:50.69 ? more than four seconds behind Villanova junior Frances Koons. Senior Michaela Courtney placed sixth, finishing in 4:53.88.

On Saturday in the preliminary round, Peller and Courtney finished within 0.5 seconds of each other placing second and third, respectively. On day two, Peller trimmed more than two seconds off her time while Courtney slowed down by 0.55 seconds.

"I think competing in back-to-back days helps me," Peller said.

Peller and Courtney will have two more opportunities to qualify for the National Championship. Both will need to cut at least eight seconds off their conference times in order to do so. Peller was upbeat, though, because she said some of the tracks the team will run on are groomed for faster times.

"I definitely still think that's a possibility," Peller said. "With two more weeks, hopefully (Michaela and I) can get there."

The men had marginal success in non-distance events. In the 60m heptathlon, sophomore Shawn McLarney and junior Tom Sage placed fourth and fifth. Junior Ray Bratchett jumped 6-foot-9 in the high jump competition, finishing third.

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