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Related Material
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Weekly Notes and Championship Preview.pdf
2003 Top Performances.pdf
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEKMen - Rice's Tommy Oleksy, a junior from Nederland, Texas set a new career-best in the long jump at 7.90m (25-11). He took second by 1/2 inch while posting the best mark in the conference, third in the Midwest region and eighth nationally. His previous season best was 7.53m (24-8 ).
Women - Rice's Funmi Jimoh, a freshman from Missouri City, Texas blew away the competition in the 100-meter hurdles, winning the event in an NCAA regional qualifying and WAC-leading time of 13.79. The time is also the eighth-best in the NCAA Midwest Region. Jimoh also ran the lead-off leg of the Owls 4x100-meter relay squad that won the competition with the best time in the WAC, and the eighth-best in the Midwest Region, at 45.14. She bettered her previous season-best high jump, clearing the bar at 5-05, in a sixth-place finish.
OTHERS NOMINATEDMen - Mark Unzueta, Fresno State and Sebastian Hock, SMU
Women - Karin van Rooyen, SMU
2003 WAC Outdoor Championship PreviewBOISE STATE - Boise State travels to UTEP in search of its first WAC track title. The Bronco men look to top their third-place finish of 2002, using one of the best throwing corps in the WAC. Taras Rohde is one of three WAC shot puters to regionally qualify, posting a mark of 16.74m. In the javelin, Rob Minnitti owns a throw of 75.75m, one of the best heaves in the country this year. The Broncos have three of the top five javelin throwers in the WAC. Kenny Johnson is the lone individual champion returning for the Broncos, as he is back to defend his 2002 triple-jump title. On the womens side, the Broncos finished eighth a season ago. Robin Wemple leads the way for the running corps, being one of three WAC women to post a regional mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Her time of 10:30.98 is second in the conference. The throwing trio of Charlene Hawthorne, Trina Rogers and Abbey Elsberry will be the main source for Bronco points. Rogers and Elsberry lead the conference in the javelin and hammer, respectively, with regional marks of 51.69m and 58.73m.
FRESNO STATE - The Fresno State women are back to defend their 2002 title, edging Rice by three points. Kara June is the lone Bulldog back for another individual crown. June won the steeplechase in 2002 and currently owns the best time in the WAC this year at 10:25.47. Pole vaulter Lexine Lesser leads the WAC clearing 3.88m earlier in the season. For the Bulldog throwers, Lisa Krauter has the best discus throw in the conference with a mark of 48.24m. The Bulldog men look to better their fourth-place finish in 2002. Jesse Smith leads a stong sprinting squad, posting the second-best time in the WAC in the 100 meters at 10.40. In the 400 meters, Aaron Vasquezs time of 47.58 is good for third in the WAC, while Chris Berrians 21.33 in the 200 meters is fifth.
HAWAII - Hawaii enters the 2003 championship looking to improve on its ninth-place finish from last season. Olivia Smoody finished second in the high jump in 2002, but comes to El Paso with the fourth-best clearance in the WAC at 1.70m. Victoria Chang is the Wahines strongest contender to take home gold, as she is second in the WAC in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:45.15, she is one of two WAC runners under 17 minutes. With a small sprinter contingent, Hawaiis Carolyn Berger, Robin McRobbie and Teryn Bentley all vying for distance crowns.
LOUISIANA TECH - Louisiana Tech looks to make a stong push for the WAC title. Hoping to improve on their sixth-place performace in 2002, the Bulldogs are guided by a trio of athletes. Roland Moore, Billy Threets and Carlos Eugene have been top performers all season. Moore is in the top five in both the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.55 and 21.17, respectively. Threets leads the WAC in the 400-meter hurdles with a regional time of 51.64. Eugene is tops in the conference in the triple jump, clearing 16.00m, one meter off the conference record. The Lady Techsters edged Boise State in 2002 by two points for seventh place. A stong throwing performance will help pick up some Techster points. Mariela Guante and Tawanna Williams are 1-2 in the conference in the shot put, posting distances of 16.57m and 15.57m, respectively. Brenda-Grace Hunts mark of 48.10m in the javelin is good for second in the WAC, with teammate Angie Roe posting 42.88m, sixth-best. Chantell Richardson is in the top five in both the long and triple jump (5.92m, 12.35m).
NEVADA - Nevada missed the 2002 title by 10 points, taking third. The Wolf Pack travel to UTEP with one title already this season, the WAC Indoor Championship. Allison Sewell is second in the the WAC this season in the 100-meter hurdles with a mark of 13.95. She hopes to improve on her fourth-place finish in 2002 in that event. Chanika Corley posts a top-three time in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:01.32. The Wolf Pack distance corps of Nicole McRae, Erin Seward and Ginny Johnson look to pick up points in the 800, steeplechase and 5,000 meters, respectively. Caira Hane is second in the WAC in the hammer with a distance of 56.17m.
RICE - The Rice women were edged by three points in 2002, and look regain their title. Led by All-American Allison Beckford, the Owls are poised for another WAC crown. Beckford was the lone Owl to take home gold in 2002, taking home both the 400 meters and 400-meter hurdle titles. She owns the top time in both this year with a time of 51.69 in the 400 meters and 55.18 in the hurdles. Nina Mayes is tops amongst the sprinters, earning a time of 11.52 in the 100 meters. Aimee Tetris and Erin Brand lead a squad of middle distance runners with Tetris posting a top-three time in the 800 and 1,500 meters. Alice Falaiye is tops in the conference in the long jump at 6.61m. For the Owl men, Adam Davis is back to better his silver-medal performance in 2002, owning the top 800-meter time in the WAC at 1:49.04. Long jumpers Tommy Oleksy and Vaughn Walwyn lead the WAC with distances of 7.90m and 7.46m, respectively. David Jacobs is tied atop the conference leaderboard in the pole vault at 4.90m. With a second-place finish at this years indoor conference championship, the Owls are geared for a top finish at outdoors.
SMU - The SMU men travel to El Paso in defense of their 2002 outdoor and 2003 indoor titles. The Mustangs have one returning champion from last season, Martin Allgeyer who won both the steeplechase and 5,000 meters. Allgeyer leads the WAC in the 1,500 meters this season at 3:44.92. Primarily relying on throwing and distance, SMUs Mindi Pukstas is tops in the conference in the 5,000 (13:45.54) and 10,000 meters (28:35.64) as the only WAC runner below 14 and 29 minutes, respectively. WAC Freshman of the Year in 2002, Hannes Hopley is tops in the WAC in the shot put and discus with heaves of 18.43m and 61.49m, respectively. Matt McKinney and Michael Robertson are second to Hopley in their respective events, while Jerome Bortoluzzi and Sasha Lutskeno are 2-3 in the conference in the hammer. For the women, Karin van Rooyen travels to El Paso with the best time in the 5,000 meters at 16:30.27. Nevena Lendel, the 2003 National Champion in the indoor high jump, has the best WAC jump in the outdoor season, clearing 1.83m. Zivile Pukstiene is tops in the WAC in the triple jump at 13.54m, while Eva Charfreitagova is second in the discus (48.14m).
UTEP - UTEP, who hosts the 2003 WAC Championship, looks to regian the WAC title on its home track. The Miner men are anchored by a stong sprinting corps, led by Taiwo Ajibade, Jairo Duzant and Richard Petty. Ajibade leads the WAC in the 100 meters (10.24), Duzant is tops in the 200 meters (20.93), while Pettys 46.62 in the 400 meters is good for the conference lead. UTEPs 4x100 team is the lone WAC squad with a time under 40 seconds at 39.29. Bashir Ibrahim is tops in the WAC and has one of the nations best times in the steeplechase, posting a time of 8:35.70. Henderson Dottin leads the WAC in the high jump, clearing 2.18m, the lone WAC member to clear seven feet this season. In the hammer, Janne Sakkos distance of 69.88m is best in the conference. For the women, 2003 WAC Indoor Freshman of the Year, Olatunde Okusanya is the top Miner sprinter. She has a top-six time in both the 100 and 200 meters. The middle distance duo of Jos van der Veen and Corine van Beek both lead the conference in their respective events. van der Veens time of 2:04.82 tops the 800-meter list, while van Beeks 4:20.53 mark leads the 1,500 meters. Freshman Desiree Crichlow leads the conference in the high jump with a clearance of 1.83m.
TULSA - The Tulsa women were edged by three points to UTEP for fifth place in 2003. Both the Hurricanes individual titles are back in defense. Monica Joannes won the 800 meters last season and has the second-best time in that event this season at 2:05.65. Shana Robinson, one of the nations fastest women, looks to defend her 100-meter title and travels to UTEP with the conferences fourth-best time (11.68). Robinson leads the WAC in the 200 meters with a time of 22.84, the only runner under 23 seconds. Tulsa also looks to defend its 4x400-meter relay title, posting the third-best conference time at 3:38.07. The Tulsa men look to improve on their seventh-place finish in 2002. They are led by Devonne Harrison, whose time of 14.51 in the 110-meter hurdles leads the conference. Owain Matthews owns a time of 8:51.58 in the steeplechase, while Andy Norman posted a time of 14:24.48 in the 5,00 meters, both are in the top five.
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.