United Athletic Conference

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Weekly Notes.pdf 2003 Top Performances.pdf 2003 Championship Results.html

2003 WAC OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP
EL PASO, Texas The Rice women and UTEP men returned to their wining ways, taking home the team titles at the 2003 WAC Track and Field Championships in El Paso, Texas. For the third time in four years, Rice brought home the WAC title, scoring 172.83 points to earn the victory at Kidd Field. UTEP claimed its 13th WAC Outdoor Championship and its first outdoor title since 1997.

Rice, who was down over 40 points heading into Saturday, tallied 172.83 total points to knock off Nevada who had 147.33. On the men's side, UTEP's sprinting corps went 1,2,3 in both the 100 and 200 meters to secure the title over SMU, 198-146. UTEP was the runner-up to SMU last year, after winning the indoor title during the 2002 season.

The Miners were carried by their sprinters and hurdlers who scored 91 points on the final day of competition. Taiwo Ajibade, Jario Duzant and Yinka Bello took the top three spot in the 100-meter dash. Ajibade ran 10.35 edging Duzant who crossed in 10.40. Bello posted a time of 10.43. UTEP took the spots one through four in the 200-meter dash. Duzant nipped Bello 20.86 to 20.91. Ajibade was third in 20.97, while Richard Petty finished fourth in 21.19. Bello, Bryan Sears, Ajibade and Duzant made up the 400-meter relay which took its second-consecutive title in the event. The relay ran away with the victory in 39.39.

Led by the high point award winner and the most outstanding performer, Allison Beckford, the Owls posted seven first-place finishes and six second-place finishes to outlast Nevada and UTEP. Beckford won the 400-meters, 400-meter hurdles, and anchored the Owls 4x400-meter relay to the championship. Beckfords mark of 53.03 in the 400-meters was good enough for first place and ten points, as was her 57.75 in the 400 hurdles. When Beckford got the handoff in the 4x400 relay from Ruthann Gairdner, the Owls were in third place. Beckford ran a 50.5 split, to come from behind and beat Tulsa and UTEP. Aimee Teteris and junior Keia Watkins were also members of that WAC champion 4x400-meter relay.

Team Scores
Men
1. UTEP - 198
2. SMU - 146
3. Boise State - 127
4. Fresno State - 102
5. Louisiana Tech - 85
6. Tulsa - 72
7. Rice - 68

Freshman of the Year
Yinka Bello, UTEP

Outstanding Performer of the Year
Mindi Pukstas, SMU

High Point Award Winner
Mindi Pukstas, SMU

Coach of the Year
Bob Kitchens, UTEP

Team Scores
Women
1. Rice - 85
2. Nevada - 42.5
3. UTEP - 35
4. Louisiana Tech - 32
5. Tulsa - 29
6. SMU - 23.5
7. Boise State - 12
8. Fresno State - 11
9. Hawaii - 3

Freshman of the Year
Funmi Jimoh, Rice

Outstanding Performer of the Year
Allison Beckford, Rice

High Point Award Winner
Allison Beckford, Rice

Coach of the Year
Victor Lopez, Rice

WAC QUALIFIERS
The Western Athletic Conference qualified 171 student-athletes and 15 relay-teams for the 2003 NCAA Regionals. On the mens side, 68 individuals landed qualifying marks, with six relays. For the women, 103 women student-athletes reached the needed marks, with nine relays.

UTEP and SMU led the way qualifying 19 men for the Midwest Regional. Fresno State and Boise State each have 10 for the West Regional, while Louisiana Tech has eight, Rice seven and Tulsa three. For the women, Nevadas 20 for the West Regional leads the conference. Both Louisiana Tech and Rice each quailified 17, while SMU notched 13. Tulsa tallied nine, while Boise State and UTEP each have eight and Hawaii has four. For a complete listing, check the WAC Top Performance list.

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.

2003 NCAA REGIONALS
May 30-31, 2003
East Regional: George Mason, host
George Mason Stadium
Fairfax, Virginia
WAC Schools Participating:
None

Mid-East Regional: The Ohio State University, host
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
WAC Schools Participating:
Louisiana Tech

Midwest Regional: University of Nebraska, host
Ed Wier Track
Lincoln, Nebraska
WAC Schools Participating:
Rice, SMU, UTEP, Tulsa

West Regional: Stanford University, host
Cobb Track & Angell Field
Stanford, California
WAC Schools Participating:
Boise State, Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada

Finals: Hornet Stadium
California State University, Sacramento
Sacramento, California
June 11-14, 2003