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Weely Track & Field Notes
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEKMen - Rob Minnitti, a senior from Port Orchard, Wash., won the javelin at the Washington State/Idaho Challenge Cup with a school-record throw of 75.75m (248-6). The toss is the best collegiate throw in the nation this season. Minnitti bested the old school mark of 241-6 set by Justin St. Clair in 2002.
Women - Jos van der Veen, a senior from Drachten, The Netherlands, took the 800-meter title at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., in a race the featured 41 runners. Her time of 2:04.82 is her personal best, ranks third in the country and is first in the WAC and Midwest Region. The time is nearly two seconds better than her previous best.
OTHERS NOMINATEDMen - Mindi Pukstas, SMU and Bashar Ibrahim, UTEP
Women - Abbey Elsberry, Boise State and Ruta Rakstyte, SMU.
AROUND THE WAC
Boise State - Boise State track and field athletes set three school records, posted four NCAA regional qualifying marks and won 12 events in competition April 19 at the Idaho / Washington State Challenge Cup. The Broncos record setting performances came from Rob Minnitti in the mens javelin, Sadie Sweet in the womens pole vault and Abbey Elsberry in the womens hammer. Minnitti placed second in the javelin with a school record throw with a NCAA regional qualifying throw of 248-6 (75.74 meters). He breaks the Boise State record of 241-6 set by Justin St. Clair during last season.
Fresno State - Junior Kara June ran perhaps her best race of the year at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. June notched a career-best 10:25.47 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Invitational April 17. The mark placed her sixth overall in the event among a field of 15 competitors and was her highest of the season, besting a 10:32.96 showing at the Cal Poly Invitational on Mar. 22. Two of the Bulldog's premier field event athletes tallied noteworthy performances last weekend at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. Senior Ryan Burgess notched a personal best mark in the javelin when he recorded a 196-09 (59.96m) during the final day of competition. That effort tied him for ninth overall, however, in the event. Junior Joe Vasquez tossed a 137-04 (41.85m) in the discus to finish 17th, then recorded a 50-06.00 (15.39m) in the shot put.
Hawaii - The Rainbow Wahines Victoria Chang's time in the 5000m run is an NCAA West Region qualifier. She became the third Hawaii track member to make the Regionals. The other two were Olivia Smoody (HJ, 1.70,) and Novelle Murray (Discus, 47.05m).
Louisiana Tech - Four Bulldog distance runners skipped their Easter break and traveled to Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC relays hosted by Mt. San Antonio Community College this weekend. Each Louisiana Tech runner participating posted seasonal best marks in their respected events at the meet. Carlos Arrizon ran a time of 14:34.17 in the 5000 meters. The mark was a personal best for the sophomore. In the 1500 meters, Karoly Varga and Stefan Malmqvist ran times of 3:52.52 and 3:56.56. While Gearie Smith's time in the 800 meters was a 1:52.97. All four times were 2003 lows.
Nevada - Nevada competed at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays. The Wolf Pack had its best finish of the day in the shot put. The school's current record holder, senior Stephanie Tietjen placed seventh in the event with a throw of 48'8". Tietjen has already qualified for the NCAA West Regional in the event. Sophomore Maranda Brownson was the only other field athlete to compete for the Pack April 19, finishing 15th in the triple jump with 34'11.75".
Rice - Allison Beckford and Keia Watkins both qualified for the NCAA regionals in the 400 meters over the weekend. Beckford posted a time of 51.69 in a second-place finish in the Invitational run, while Watkins also finished second in the Open section with a time of 54.13. Ruthann Gairdner took fourth in the heptathlon with a school record, and NCAA provisional qualifying mark, of 5,008 points. Teresa Crismon again broke her own school record in the hammer throw with a heave of 159-09. After sitting out the first half of the outdoor season due to football spring practice, Cliff Sparks posted the Owls top 100 meter time at 10.74. Keith Pierce shaved three seconds off his season-best 1,500 meter time with a mark of 3:52.93.
SMU - Three SMU Mustangs set new season-bests to wrap up the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays, April 18-19. In the women's shot, Ruta Rakstyte recorded a 15.36m heave, a season best and good for 12th place in the invitational event, which featured several postgraduate Olympic-caliber athletes. In the men's 1,500, both Amos Skinner and Abe Ekal posted new season-lows, finishing in 3:52.91 and 3:54.27, respectively.
UTEP - The UTEP middle distance and distance runners had a strong showing at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., last weekend. Senior Bashar Ibrahim finished tied for third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 3:35.70. He had the exact same time as former Miner Cesar Perez. Junior Dirk de Heer cruised to the title in his heat of the 1,500-meter run. The junior from The Netherlands, ran a personal best of 14:22.24. Senior Jos van der Veen had one of her best races in the 800-meter run. She won the race which featured six heats in a NCAA regional qualifying time and personal best of 2:04.82. The finish was also the third-best time in school history. Fellow Dutch runner, Corine van Beek, regionally qualified taking fifth out of 73 runners in the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:23.21.
Tulsa - The Tulsa track teams will send a selection of runners to the 94th Annual Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Senior hurdler Jamese James will look to become TU's first defending champion at the Drake Relays. James won the 400-meter hurdles last season, and is one of five competitors at this season's meet who have regionally qualified. Junior sprinter Shana Robinson will put the nation's ninth best time for the 100-meters on the line; while sophomore Owain Matthews will be one of top runners in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with the nation's 12th-best time.
ERIN KELLY NAMED NEVADAS TOP SENIOR FEMALE ATHLETE - Multi-event athlete, Erin Kelly, was named the top female senior athlete at the University of Nevada, winning the Ruth I. Russell Award. Kelly is a two time WAC indoor pentathlon champion. She set the school record in the pentathlon in both her wins. She also led the Pack in scoring at both the 2002 WAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. She was named the Big West Athlete of the Year in 2001. Staff members of the Nevada Athletics Department voted on the honorees from the nominations submitted by head coaches. The nominee must be a senior in at least one sport and be in good academic standings.
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 predetermined times and marks achieved during the season. The only three events that will not be held at Regionals will 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-qualifying 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.