Jan. 20, 2002

Kenosha, Wis. - Both the University of Illinois at Chicago's men's and women's track teams finished sixth at the Carthage College Division I Invite on Saturday afternoon.

Marquette took home the men's title as they accumulated 166.5 points for the afternoon. UW-Milwaukee placed second overall with 99 points, followed by DePaul (97.5), Carthage (76), Loyola (53), UIC (50), Chicago State (35), UW-Parkside (16) and Valparaiso (16).

The Golden Eagles also garnered top honors in the women's division as they scored 216 points. Carthage took home second place with 112.5 points, followed by UW-Milwaukee (73), DePaul (60), Loyola (54), UIC (49.5), Valparaiso (26) and UW-Parkside (11).

"In general, I think if we continue the improvement that we are making, the hard work is going to pay off in the end," UIC track and field coach Jim Knoedel said.

On the women's side, freshman Sara O'Mara set a new school-record in the weight throw as she made a toss of 41'11½ inches for a seventh-place finish.

Senior Monieka Thompson, again, was impressive as she recorded a come-from-behind victory in the 400-meter dash (58.57).

On the men's side, freshman Whitney Burns continued his stellar rookie campaign as he captured the 800-meter run title for the second consecutive week. Burns crossed the finish line with a time of 1:56.88.

"No one really challenged Whitney," Knoedel said. "The poise that he has shown as a freshman, is going to make him that much tougher in the future."

The Distance Medley Relay team of Joe Marren, Tristan Roche, Danny Smith and Rich Daubert also turned in a solid effort in their first race of the season as they took second overall with a time of 10.30.9.

UIC also received third-place performances from Joe Kepinski (pole vault, 12'6") and Bob Thurnhoffer (long jump, 21'2").

UIC will be back in action next Saturday, as they will travel to Indianapolis to participate in the Smith-Barney Invitational at 4:00 PM.