Upcoming Action This week is the first full week of action as five of the seven mens teams and six of the eight womens teams will compete. For both the men and women, Boise State will travel to Pocatello, Idaho, for the Idaho State Invitational. Lousiana Tech, Rice and SMU will all participate in the Houston Invitational, while Tulsa will compete in the Missouri Invitational.
Trackwires Dandy Dozen Ten mens and 10 womens WAC athletes are mentioned in Trackwires preseason Dandy Dozen (D12). Trackwire uses 10 equally-rated criteria to rank athletes, including performance at major competitions, coaching, peaking ability, freedom from injuries, mental toughness and competitiveness, progression of marks, and the athletes age and personal bests. The remaining three factors are a demonstrated ability to perform in multiple rounds of competition, ability in other events and marks and placing in head-to-head competition with name competitors. A list of those athletes mentioned in the D12 follows:
Men
60 Taiwo Ajibade, Jr., UTEP
Aaron Egbele, Sr., UTEP
800 Adam Davis, So., Rice
Mile Bashar Ibrahim, Jr., UTEP
5,000 Alvaro Jimenez, So., UTEP
DMR SMU
LJ Tommy Oleksy, Jr., Rice
SP Janus Robberts, Sr., SMU
Andrey Borodkin, Sr., SMU
Mark Hoxmeier, Sr., BSU
WT Janne Vartia, Jr., UTEP
Women
400 Allison Beckford, Jr., Rice
800 Amy Teteris, Sr., Rice
Tanya Wright, Jr., Rice
4x400 UTEP
Rice
DMR Rice
HJ Marie Norrman, So., SMU
LJ Alice Falaiye, Jr., Rice
Lavada Hill, Jr., SMU
TJ Lavada Hill, Jr., SMU
Anna Tarasova, Sr., UTEP
Crystal Simmons, Sr., FS
SP Ruta Rakstya, Jr., SMU
Karen Freberg, Fr., SMU
Injury Report The UTEP womens squad will begin the season without three-time All-American Anna Tarasova. The senior is having her knee scoped this week. Tarasova claimed the triple jump titles at both the WAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2001. She also holds the all-time WAC record in indoor with a mark of 44-2 3/4 (2001) and in outdoor at 44-9 (2001). In addition, she holds the WAC Outdoor Championship record with a mark of 44-0 (2000). At last years NCAA Indoor Championships, Tarasova was third, while placing fourth at the outdoor championships.
In the Polls In the Trackwire preseason polls released on Jan. 15, two WAC womens teams were among the top 20. Rice is tied with Washington State for 13th place with 16 points, while UTEP shares the 20th ranking with Georgetown at 11 points. Much of the same criteria used to determine the Dandy Dozen is applied to the rankings. South Carolina holds a commanding lead in the number one spot with 58 points, 12 more than second-ranked Florida. For the men, SMU has 13 points and shares the 15th ranking with three other teams. Tennessee leads the charge, following its victory at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year.
Others Nominated for Athlete of the Week April Wiechmann, a Fresno State senior, won the womens pentathlon at Fresno States Annual Weight Pentahlon on Jan. 12. Her 3, 966 points included wins in the discus (152-2) and weight throw (51-4). Nevada junior Abrianne Wiles vaulted to a mark of 12-1 3/4 at the National Pole Vault Summit last weekend to lead Wolf Pack vaulters. Tulsa sophomore Shana Robinson won the 200-meter dash at the Radio Shack/MSSC Invitational last Saturday with a time of 25.20, beating out 22 other runners.
Last Weeks Results The Rice women participated in the only scored meet last weekend, placing sixth with 36 points at the Leonard Hilton Memorial. The meet was hosted by the University of Houston and was held at Yeoman Field House. Long jumper Alice Falaiye set a meet record with a leap of 20-4 1/2, while teammate Tanya Wright also broke the record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:21.07. Aimee Teteris finished second in the 400 meters (55.64) and Erin Brand notched second in the mile (5:08.42).
Five Nevada athletes participated in the National Pole Vault Summit on Jan. 12, as did vaulters from Fresno State. The annual event mixes professional athletes with collegiate athletes and allows them to share the stage as they vault on multiple runways. Fresno State seniors Mark Unzueta and Justin Schwartz had their opportunities to learn from the best, as did Bergann Hernandez, Lexine Lesser and Sarah Merino. Participating Wolf Pack athletes were Abrianne Wiles, Dana Huesby, Jenni Ashcroft, Megan Reis and Melissa Banton.
At the Annual Weight Pentathlon, several Bulldgos claimed top honors. Athlete of the Week nominee April Wiechmann won the discus and weight throw en route to the pentathlon title. Senior Andrea Stelter won the hammer throw with a toss of 169-7 while freshman Kristin Schelir sent the shot put 42-8 to lead all others. Senior Kayla Russum measured 145-11 in the javelin to nab first place. On the mens side, sophomore Joe Vasquez came in second in the pentathlon with 3,514 points, behind unattached athlete John Johns 3,721 points. Vasquez won the discus with a distance of 155-10. Senior Ryan Beckenhauer won the shot put with a mark of 56-2, while freshman Ryan Burgess captured the javelin with a toss of 181-5.