Women's track continues success at TSU Relays

By Natalie Clericuzio     3/27/08 7:00pm

The downside of reaching the top is that, theoretically, there is no room for improvement. Nevertheless, as the outdoor season commences, the women's track and field team will be looking to improve on its early-season finish: first place at the Conference USA Indoor Championships.Rice's first attempt at improvement took place last weekend at the Texas Southern University Relays on the University of Houston campus, where the Owls earned no fewer than four first-place finishes. Senior Desarie Walwyn and junior Jenny Glover both posted NCAA-regional qualifying times in the 100 meter dash and triple jump, respectively.

Walwyn also participated alongside sophomores Sarah Lyons, Shakera Reece and Brittany Washington in the first-place 4x100 meter relay, which finished in 45:53 seconds. Senior Chandra Ewing posted the final individual win for the Owls, as she ran the 400 hurdles in 1:01.04.

The Owls return to the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium today to compete in the the Victor Lopez Bayou Classic, the first of two meets Rice will host this season. The competition includes twenty-five high school teams and eleven university squads, including local opponents Stephen F. Austin University, Texas State University and Sam Houston State University.

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However, not all the opposition will be from Texas - Harvard University and the University of Wyoming are on this weekend's slate as well. Friday will largely consist of high school races, with the university-level distance and javelin competition beginning around 7 p.m. Friday night. The rest of the university meet will run from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Head coach Jim Bevan said that for the team to continue its goal of improvement, its athletes' training and health need to be maintained.

"I think we can be a better team outdoors," Bevan said. "The fact that we were continuing to improve throughout indoors makes us optimistic about our season. The biggest thing is the continual juggling of training hard and staying healthy."

Rice's health was certainly not a problem last week at UH, as the team set several personal-best marks. Glover's triple jump length of 12.34 meters was the only one of them to earn gold, but three others earned top career marks: Freshman Alex Gibbs placed second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.42, Williams placed seventh in the 1500 at 4:44.20, and sophomore Katie Dollinger nabbed a fifth-place finish in the shot-put with a throw of 42 feet, 0.75 inches.

Bevan noted that both Walwyn and Glover are not only leaders of the squad, but that both are better than where they were last year.

"They are leaders and their hard work is showing," Bevan said. "They're ahead of last year and should have an outstanding outdoor season."

The rest of the team performed well, also. Sophomore Eunique Hamilton recorded a pair of good finishes, placing third in the high jump and second in the triple jump. Reece placed second in the 100, trailing Walwyn by only .13 seconds with a time of 11.83, just shy of a provisional qualifying mark. Sophomore Nicole Mericle ran her best 1500 in a year, placing fourth with a time of 4.38.91, and senior Ulrika Hinson placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 131-3.

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