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Weekly Release.pdf
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There are seven teams in competition this weekend as they prepare for the conference championship later this month. Boise State is hosting the United Heritage Invite, while Nevada hosts the Wolf Pack Invite. Rice will remain in Houston, participating in the Houstoun Indoor, while UTEP and Tulsa travel north to Lincoln, Neb., for the adidas Classic. For complete information on WAC track, including schedules, top performances and polls, open the weekly notes.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEKMens
Boise State's Ray Ardill, a junior from senior, Victoria, B.C., Canada, tied his own school record in the 200-meter dash, and in the process surpassed the NCAA provisional qualifying mark with a time of 21.23. He first tied the school record at 200-meters last year when he ran 21.23 to tie the record with Kerry Lawyer who set it in 1992. Ardill posted a time of 47.40 in the 400-meter dash January 31. He placed second in both events behind former Boise State All-American Corey Nelson. Ardill also ran the opening leg of Boise State's 4x400-meter relay team which placed second with a time of 3:16.25.
Womens
Louisiana Tech's Nina Gilbert, a freshman from Houston, took first place in the womens 400-meter dash as the Bayou Bengal Invitatioinal that featured top-ranked LSU and Texas A&M among others. Gilbert ran a 55.56 to win the event, which also set a school record. The competition was just the second collegiate event for Gilbert from Langham Creek High School in Houston.
Additional nominees included:
Mens
Owain Matthews, Tulsa.
Womens
Emily Mathis, Boise State; Ashley Monfort, Hawaii; Miranda Brownson, Nevada and Shana Robinson, Tulsa.
BOISE TO HOST 2004 WAC CHAMPIONSHIP - The 2004 Western Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship is going to be held at the Idaho Sports Center in Boise, Idaho. This years championship will be held Thursday, February 26 through Saturday, Februay 28.
2003 WAC Championship - The Nevada women and the SMU men took home the 2003 Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field crowns, earning 127.5 and 147 points, respectively. Individual honors went to Allison Beckford of Rice and Ray Ardill of Boise State, and Dalibor Balgac of SMU, who all received the WACs Outstanding Performance award. Taking home Freshman of the Year honors, were Olatunde Okusanya and Gerardo Cerrarsco of UTEP. Coach of the Year honores went to the two team champions, Curt Kraft of Nevada and Dave Wollman of SMU. The High Point Awards were handed out to Rices Beckford and Ryan Harlan.
Finishing in second place for the men was Rice with 139 points, followed by defending champion, UTEP (116.5), Boise State (92), Fresno State (80.5), Louisiana Tech (44) and Tulsa (39). For the women, Rice earned runner-up honors with 120 points, while UTEP (93), SMU (80), Louisiana Tech (71), Tulsa (62), Fresno State (53), Boise State (43.5) and Hawaii (10) round out the womens side.
FRALEY NAMED 2003 USA TRACK AND FIELD COACH OF THE YEAR - Fresno State Director of Track and Field Bob Fraley has been named USA Track & Field's 2003 Nike Coach of the Year. Fraley, now in his 22nd season at Fresno State, played a pivotal role in rejuvenating the pole vault in the United States when in 1989 he created the Pole Vault Summit, now held in Reno, Nevada. Featuring competitions and an exchange of knowledge about pole vaulting, the event attracts more than 2,000 male and female athletes, from teenagers to Olympic gold medalists. His work has reaped dividends: in the last three years alone, Team USA men's pole vaulters have won the gold and silver medals at both the 2000 Olympic Games and 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships, as well as the bronze medal at the 2001 World Outdoor Championships. In 2003, his contributions reached a new level when he donated his salary to the school's track program in order to prevent it from being cut due to budgetary reasons.