United Athletic Conference

Related Material

Weekly Track and Field Notes.pdf 2003 Top Performances.pdf

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Men - SMU's Mindi Pukstas, a senior from Kaunas, Lithuania, earned his second back-to-back athlete of the week honor, winning the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the Texas Relays by over 10 seconds. His time of 8:49.87 is best in the WAC this season and an NCAA regional-qualifying mark. Pukstas has previously won the WAC athlete of the week honors, Jan. 27, Feb. and Mar. 31. Pukstas is husband to fellow Mustang Zivile Pukstiene, who earned athlete of the week honors for her performance in the triple jump.

Women - SMU's Zivile Pukstiene, a senior from Kaunas, Luthuania, won the triple jump at the Texas Relays, with a distance of 13.54m. The mark is the best in the WAC this season by 1.5m and is an NCAA regional-qualifying mark. Pukstiene is wife to fellow Mustang Mindi Pukstas, who earned athlete of the week honors for his performance in the steeplechase.

OTHERS NOMINATED
Men - Billy Threets of Louisiana Tech posted a time of 51.77 in the 400 meter hurdles, improving on his season-best WAC time ... Jason Powell of Rice posted the second-best triple jump mark in the WAC this season, clearing 51-1 at the Texas Relays ... Dirk de Heer of UTEP finished second in the 1,500 meters at the Texas Relays with a personal-best time of 3:47.97, which is the second fastest time in the Midwest Region.

Women - Mariela Guante of Louisiana Tech finished fourth in the shot put wiht a mark of 15.67m, as season best ... Caira Hane of Nevada won the hammer at the Fresno Relays with a personal-best throw of 172-10, qualifying for the NCAA West Regional ... Allison Beckford of Rice finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at the Texas Relays, surpassing the meet record of 55.50, with a regional-qualifying time of 55.15. She also r an the second leg of the Owls 4x400 meter relay team that earned a WAC-best time of 3:34.69 ... Corine van Beek of UTEP finished second in the 1,500 meters at the Texas Relays with a time of 4:20.76 which is the fastest time in the Midwest Region this season.

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AROUND THE WAC
Boise State - The Broncos return to action this week, running at both the NNU Invitational in Nampa, Idaho, and Sun Angel Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

Fresno State - The Bulldogs hosted the 75th annual Bob Mathias Fresno Relays. They posted three first-place finishes, two of which came on the men's side. Reggie Allen won the 400 meters in 48.52, while Ryan Burgess took first place in the javelin (57.31m). For the women, Mandy Hollister won 400-meter hurdles, checking in with a career-best 1:01.93.

Lousiana Tech - Louisiana Tech continued its season, running at the Texas Relays. Chantell Richardsons time of 14.16 in the 100 meter hurdles broke the school mark (14.18), while Sara Gelin garnered another school record by clearing 40-3 1/2 in the triple-jump. For the men, Billy Threets regionally qualifyed in the 400-meter hurdles by finishing fifth in the finals with a time of 51.77.

Nevada - The Wolf Pack won five events and posted 16 top-three finishes at the Fresno Relays, earning three more NCAA regional qualifying marks. As a whole, Nevada has eight athletes that have reached the regional marks.

Rice - For the Owls at the Texas Relays, Tommy Olesky notched the best long jump mark in the WAC at 7.53m. For the women, Beth Hinshaw again broke her school pole vault record, tying for sixth with a mark of 3.85m. Alice Falaiye took second in the long jump with a regional qualifying leap of 6.32m, the best in the WAC this season.

SMU - The Mustangs had a strong performance at the Texas Relays. SMU's husband and wife tandem of Mindi Pukstas and Zivile Pukstiene picked up convincing wins, earning NCAA regional qualifying marks. Pukstas won the 3,000m steeple (8:49.87), while Pukstiene won the women's triple jump (13.54m). NCAA 2003 Indoor National Champion, Nevena Lendel, won the high jump, clearing 1.83m. In the men's hammer, Jerome Bortoluzzi and Sasha Lutsenko finished one-two, as the freshmen recorded season-best tosses of 66.66m and 66.42m, respectively.

UTEP - The Miners had a strong weekend at Texas Relays. Corine van Beek and Henderson Dottin each placed second in their respective events. Van Beek ran the fourth-best 1,500-meter run in school history taking second with regional time of 4:20.76. Dottin improved on his season best, jumping a regional mark of 2.18m. UTEP also sent a group of athletes to the NMSU Invitational, where champions included Barbara Pejic (800), Kersta Caliz (1,500), Adriana Pirtea (10,000) and Andrew Chapman (high jump). Pirtea ran 36:46.50 by herself in the 10,000, however it is the third-fastest time in school history.

Tulsa - For the Golden Hurricane at the Texas Relays, Shana Robinson won the 200 meters over teammate Paula Richardson by a .08 margin, 23.86-23.94. Both runners qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional.

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.