Jan. 27, 2003

Kent, Ohio - Junior Bob Thurnhoffer turned in an eighth-place performance of 20'11 ¼" in the long jump to help UIC to a 11th place finish at the Central Collegiate Championships, hosted by Kent State on Saturday afternoon.

Eastern Michigan captured the championship with 177 points, followed by Western Michigan (129.5), Akron (77), Kent State (66.5), Toledo (50), Detroit (31.5), DePaul (30), Loyola (27), Ohio (19.5), Youngstown State (13), UIC (1)..

"We have more work to do," UIC head coach Jim Knoedel said. "We need to improve as a whole to do well at the conference championships.

"It seems like more people are heading in that direction and I hope we continue to do so."

The Flames also received an impressive effort from sophomore distance runner, Whitney Burns. Burns placed 12th overall in the 800-meter run with a career-best mark of 1:54.93.

UIC will be back in action on Saturday afternoon, as the Flames will travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to participate in the Smith-Barney Invitational at 10:00 a.m.