April 15, 2002

Monmouth, Ill. - Senior sprinter Monieka Thompson (Chicago, Ill./Steinmetz) captured the 800-meter run title with a time of 2:14.91 to help the University of Illinois at Chicago women's track and field team to a fourth-place finish at the Lee Calhoun Memorial Meet at Bobby Woll Field, hosted by Western Illinois University on Saturday afternoon.

Western Illinois captured the women's overall title with 247 points, followed by UW-Milwaukee (175.5), Northern Illinois (92.5), UIC (79), Loyola (49), Bradley (48) and the University of Memphis (26).

The Flames also received fourth-place finishes from freshmen Sara O'Mara (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) and Simeko Washington (Chicago, Ill./Westmont). O'Mara placed fourth with a mark of 131-feet, 11-inches in the hammer throw, while Washington tossed the shot put 40-feet, 3 ½ inches.

Senior Joe Kepinski (Wadsworth, Ill./Warren) placed third overall in the pole vault with a mark of 13-feet, ¼ inch to propel UIC to a sixth-place finish on the men's side.

Western Illinois also captured the men's title with 226 points as they edged Eastern Illinois (223) by three points. UW-Milwaukee placed third with 97 points, followed by Chicago State (63), Loyola (60), UIC (28), Iowa (10) and Bradley (1).

Junior long distance runner Rich Daubert turned in a fourth-place effort of 3:58.77 in the 1,500-meter run.

UIC will be back in split-squad action this weekend, as they will participate in the Kansas Relays on Friday and Saturday along with the Elmhurst Invitational on Saturday.