Related Material
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Weekly Outdoor Notes.pdf
2003 Top Performances.pdf
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEKMen - Louisiana Tech's Billy Threets, a senior from Grand Prairie, Texas, won the 400-meter hurdles at the ULM Indian Classic. His time of 51.64 is the fastest in the WAC this season and is a NCAA regional qualifying mark.
Women - Rice's Allison Beckford, a senior from Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, Jamaica, successfully defended her title at the Drake Relays, taking home top honors in the 400-meter hurdles. She won the race with a time of 55.86, over one second faster than second place. She also helped the Owls win the 4x400 meter relay, topping instate rival Baylor and eighth ranked Stanford, with a time of 3:35.90.
OTHERS NOMINATEDMen - Jay Finks, Boise State; Adam Davis, Rice; Lukas Musil, SMU and Andy Norman, Tulsa
Women - Abbey Elsberry, Boise State; Hanna Bremler, Hawaii; Chante Threets, Louisiana Tech; Allison Sewell, Nevada; Jamese James, Tulsa
AROUND THE WACBoise State - Boise State competed at the Oregon Invitational. Trina Rogers led the way for the Bronco women with a first-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 51.69m. Her mark is the fourth-best collegiate throw this season. Boise State also had two NCAA regional qualifying marks in Eugene. Along with Rogers, Abbey Elsberry posted another qualifying mark in the hammer with a throw of 56.87m. The men won eight events and surpassed the NCAA regional qualifying mark in four events. Ray Ardill captured the 400 meters, posting a time of 48.18 and then came back to win the 200 meters in 21.34. Francis Ngapout tied for first in the 100 meters in a time of 10.54.
Fresno State - Fresno State competed in its final home meet of the year last weekend against Cal State Bakersfield. The Bulldogs were well-represented in almost every event as the they locked up the first-place spot in 17 different events. Phil Ogilvie shaved nearly four seconds off his previous season-best in the mile, winning the event with a 4:08.65. Mark Unzueta closed out his final meet at Warmerdam Field by sharing the best mark in the pole vault, posting a mark of 4.89m along with teammate Russell Weaver. Aaron Vasquez won the 400 meters in 48.19, while Josh Blecha posted a 1.88m top-finish in the high jump in his first action of the year. For the Bulldog women, Katie Christianson placed first in two separate events, the 100-meter hurdles (14.45) and long jump (5.57m). La' Sha Hill also won twice, in the shot put (13.58m) and javelin (29.20m). Annie Malaythong recorded a career-best 3.66m in the pole vault, matching the mark needed for a regional qualifying berth. Sunny Arada ran a 56.70 to win the 400 meters, the best time for any Bulldog women's harrier this year.
Hawaii - Hawaiis Hanna Bremler broke the school record in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:29.98 at the UC San Diego Invitational. It was one of two events that she ran in, including posting a first-place finish in the 3000 meters. Her time in the 1500 meters was an NCAA regional qualifying mark. She becomes the fourth UH athlete to qualify for the NCAA West Regional. The other three already making the marks are Victoria Chang (5000m), Novelle Murray (discus), and Olivia Smoody (high jump). The second day of competition also produced 12 personal bests by UH athletes, including Bremler's two feats.
Louisiana Tech - Shandra Freeman and Sara Gelins school record setting performances highlighted Louisiana Techs sweep of the ULM Indian Classic. Tech won five events on the women's side to edge Northwestern State 187-177. On the men's side, Tech claimed first-place finishes to edge Northwestern State 191.5-171.50. Freeman set a Tech outdoor record in the 200 meters with a time of 23.87, while Gelin finished second in the triple jump, setting a school-best mark with a jump of 40-feet-9-inches. On the men's side, Billy Threets and Jerry Lapoint highlighted the Bulldog first-place finishes with Threets winning the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.64 while LaPoint claimed the discus throw with a toss of 177-feet, 1-inches.
Nevada - Nevada finished strong at the BYU Invitational with two wins amongst a flurry of top-five finishes. The Wolf Pack had a strong first day adding a 12th NCAA Regional Qualifier and did not disappoint on the final day. Nevada shot put record holder Stephanie Tietjen took the top spot in the event with a throw of 48'5". Allison Sewell was the other winner in the 100-meter hurdles, an event which she leads the WAC in, with a time of 13.93.
Rice - The Rice men hosted the RunSport Twilight. Keith Pierced bettered his 1,500 meter time, taking first in 3:50.94. The Owl 4x100 meter relay team set a new season best, posting a time of 40.90. In just his second race of the season, Cliff Sparks earned a time of 10.60 in the 100 meters. Tim Oberg won the steeplechase for the second time this season. On the womens side, the Owls picked up three wins at the Drake Relays. Allison Beckford successfully defended her 400-meter hurdle title, crossing over a second ahead of second place in 55.86. Aimee Teteris won the 800 meters (2:07.83), while the Owl 4x400 relay brought home gold in 3:35.90. WAC long jump record holder, Alice Falaiye, missed tying her current mark of 21-9 by 3/4 of an inch.
SMU - SMU standout Lukas Musil qualified for the NCAA Regionals in the 800 meters crossing the line in 1:50.78 at the Rice/RunSport Twilight Invitational. Musil, a junior from Prague in the Czech Republic, lowered his season-best time by almost a second in finishing as the runner-up in the event. Amos Skinner also ran well in the race, finishing in 1:51.89, a new personal best and good for fifth place in the 800m.
UTEP - UTEPs 400-meter relay team won its fourth title in the last seven years at the Drake Relay in front of a sellout crowd of 18,038 in Des Moines, Iowa. The relay, composed of Yinka Bello, Bryan Sears, Taiwo Ajibade and Jairo Duzant, topped Wichita State, 39.64 to 39.81. The Miners also took titles in 1997, 1999 and 2001 in the relay. Senior Janne Sakko placed second behind Iowas Bill Neumann in the javelin. Sakko, throwing in a tail wind, launched a NCAA Regional distance of 233-2 (71.06m). Freshman high jumpers Stephanie Higham and Desiree Crichlow each bowed out of the invitational high jump after clearing 5-8 (1.73) and failing at 5-10 (1.78). Crichlow tied for sixth, while Higham finished eighth with one more miss.
Tulsa - Tulsas sprint medley relay team won the event at the 94th annual Drake Relays in a school record fashion. The team of Shana Robinson, Paula Richardson, Jamese James, and Monica Joannes paced the field of 24 teams with a mark of 3:47.62, breaking the school record by nearly 10 seconds. The womens 4x800-meter relay team also broke a school record. The team of Chatney Noble, Melanie Hardy, Megan Langwell and Monica Joannes finished third with a time of 8:49.13, in a field of 16 teams.
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.