Related Material
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Weekly Notes.pdf
Top Performances.pdf
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEKMen -
Hannes Hopley, a sophomore from Rutenberg, South Africa, was the top attached finisher in the mens discus at the College Station Relays hosted by Texas A&M. In his first outdoor meet of season, Hopley threw the discus a distance of 61.43m to qualify for regionals in Lincoln, Neb.
Women -
Shana Robinson, a junior from Tulsa, Okla., won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes in her first outdoor meet of the season at the Arkansas-Little Rock Open. She regionally qualified in the 100 meters, posting a time of 11.74. In the 200 meters, she crossed at 24.35. This is the third-year that Robinson has one atleast one event in her first outdoor outing.
OTHER NOMINATEDMen - Carlos Eugene of Louisiana Tech won the triple jump with a distance of 49-9 1/2 at the Tech Twilight, the Bulldogs season opener ... Andy Norman of Tulsa posted a personal-best time of 8:31.92 in the 3,000 meters at the Arkansas-Little Rock Open.
Women - Kara June of Fresno State won the steeplechase at the Cal Poly Invitational with a time of 10:32.96, an NCAA regional qualifying mark ... Sara Gelin of Louisiana Tech won the long jump (18-11) and the triple jump (39-6), while taking second in the 100-meter hurdles at the Tech Twilight... Stephanie Tietjen of Nevada won the shot put at the Sac State Invitational, with a school-record and NCAA regional qualifying throw of 49-7 ... Beth Hinshaw of Rice won the pole vault with a school-record mark of 12-7 1/4 at the TSU Relays. The mark is also an NCAA regional qualifying mark ... Ruka Rakstyte of SMU won the womens shot put at the College Station Relays with a meet-record throw of 15.25m. The heave clears the NCAA regional qualifying mark.
HARLAN TO BE A FACE IN THE CROWD - Rices Ryan Harlan appears in the Faces in the Crowd section of the March 24 issue of Sports Illustrated. Harlan, a senior from Hewitt, Texas, was recognized by the magazine for winning his fourth-consecutive WAC indoor pentathlon title earlier this season. Harlan is the only male athlete in WAC history to win four-straight conference titles in any event. En route to his record-setting performance at the championship he placed first in three of the five pentathlon events, and set a new school and conference record 4,058 points.
AROUND THE WACSix WAC schools began the outdoor season this past weekend, with many schools qualifying athletes for the NCAA Regionals. Nevada, the 2003 WAC Indoor Champs, continued its winning ways, taking home the team title at the Sac State Invitational.
Fresno State - Several Bulldogs athletes earned first-place finishes at the Cal Poly Invitational, representing the opening event of the outdoor season. The non-team scoring meet featured participants from Fresno State, Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. There were six golds on the mens side, while women took home five, including two from sophomore Crystal Phillips.
Louisiana Tech - Louisiana Tech hosted the Tech Twilights, placing six women on the top podium. On the mens side, Carlos Arrizon, Karoly Varga and Stefan Malmqvist finished 1-2-3 in the 1,500 meters.
Nevada - At the site of the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Sacramento States Hornet Stadium, the Wolf Pack took first at the Sac State Invitational. The meet was the first for Nevadas outdoor season. The Wolf Pack scored 196.5, to oust the nearest competitior, USC with 127. At the meet, Nevada regionally qualified four of its athletes.
Rice - The Owls opened the 2003 outdoor season hosting the TSU Relays at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. Freshman David Axel brought home the 3,000-meter steeplechase title. For the women, Beth Hinshaw set a new school record in the pole vault, clearing 12-7 1/4, regionally qualifying her for Lincoln. Rice hosts the Rice Bayou Classic March 28-29.
SMU - The Mustang throwers had a strong day at the College Station Relays, while the Mustang runners also scored impressive finishes. For the women, Ruta Rakstyte took first place in the shot put with a meet-record 15.25m effort. On the men's side, Hannes Hopley and Michael Robertson took second and third, respectively, in the discus with 61.43m and 60.18m heaves, qualifying them for regionals.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane began their outdoor season at the Arkansas-Little Rock Open. The Tulsa women won 11 of the 12 events. It was the most individual crowns won by a Hurricane team at one outdoor meet ever. Andy Norman set a new person best, with a 3,000 meter time of 8:31.92.
NCAA REGIONALS - This season there will be an NCAA regional meet the week before the NCAA Championship, where the NCAA qualifying will be settled. The qualifying regions are broken into four different sections of the United States. There is the West, Midwest, Mideast and East. In each division, there is one site/school* that will host the regional. Like qualifying for NCAAs, an athlete must qualify for regionals based on pre-determinded times and marks achieved during the season. The only three events that will not be held at Regionals will the the 10k, Heptathlon and Decathlon.
The top five finishers in each individual event as well as the top three relays will all advance to the NCAA Championship in Sacramento, Calif. If there are not enough to fill the heats, the remaining athletes on the descending order list will be used.
TRACKWIRE POLL - The Trackwire 25 projects a hypothetical score for the NCAA meet, factoring in injury reports and other variables supported by information gathered from coaches and NCAA-qualfying competitions across the country. This projection is generated by scoring the Dandy Dozen, a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event.
The factors used to build the D12 include quantitative values that measure performances in past major competitions (such as conference championships, national championships and Olympic competition), durability and freedom from injuries, demonstrated ability to compete well in multiple rounds of competition, ability in other events, head-to-head competition with other top athletes, and personal or seasonal bests.