May 9, 2003

Indianapolis, Ind. - Senior Joe Kepinski earned a second-place finish in the pole vault with a mark of 13'5 ¼" to lead the University of Illinois at Chicago after the first day of the Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Michael A. Carroll Track and Field Stadium on Thursday evening.

Heading into Friday's competition, Detroit (49) holds a narrow lead over Butler (45), followed by UW-Milwaukee (30), Youngstown State (28), Loyola (17) and UIC (10).

Sophomore Nick Gazis rounded out the scoring for the Flames on Thursday, as the Skokie, Ill., native placed fifth in the hammer throw with a heave of 145'11".

Freshman Wilmer Fernandez advanced to the 400-meter dash finals with a 7th-place mark of 51.02 in the preliminaries. Junior Kevin Mitchem placed seventh overall in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles (57.99) to advance to Friday's finals.

The Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships will conclude on Friday evening.