With Oympic Trials approaching, Greff's vault lands her top spot in nation

By Natalie Clericuzio     4/10/08 7:00pm

While recent worldwide newspapers indicate that many people could boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, there is at least one member of the women's track team who may be in China to see them firsthand. Senior Rachel Greff's vault of 13 feet, 9.25 inches, at the Texas Relays in Austin last weekend was high enough to qualify for the Olympic Trials with a B-level ranking. With the same jump, Greff also moved to the top of the NCAA standings with a little over a month to go until the Conference USA meet.Along with Rice's other throwers, jumpers and sprinters, Greff will now travel to El Paso for the University of Texas-El Paso Invitational this weekend. Head coach Jim Bevan said the fast track, warm weather and high altitude could provide for personal-best performances.

Rice's opponents will include the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and the University of Houston along with thirty-five unattached runners. These runners, including alumnae Funmi Jimoh (Jones '06), will be attempting to qualify for their own trips to Beijing. In the meantime, Rice's distance team will attend the Texas Southern University Quadrilaterals in Houston, with races beginning tonight at the Rice Soccer and Track Stadium.

While Greff may not break any more records this weekend, it might just be due to the lack of records remaining without her name attached. Greff's most recent vault broke her own previous school record of 13-6.25. The leap should not come as a surprise to those who have followed her career - she has qualified for the national meet each of her previous three years and placed in the top twelve as sophomore and junior. Her vault this past weekend bodes well for the rest of this season, and, according to Bevan, shows how greatly she has improved over her years at Rice.

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"[Greff] started as a 12-foot jumper freshman year, and now she's toying with 14 feet," Bevan said. "She's very much a perfectionist, and the pole vault is an event that combines a lot of factors: Speed, timing and athleticism. [The vault] is the only event where you're like a gymnast to get yourself around the pole and over the bar - it takes little bit of daredevil in you. It's the most intensive and complex single event in track."

Greff's performance may have been the most impressive in the toughest event, but other Owls succeeded in their designated areas. Freshman Becky Wade placed second in the steeplechase with a regional qualifying and personal-best time of 10 minutes, 42.17 seconds, in only her second ever competition in the event. Her time, which was the 19th-best in the country, was also the second-best in Rice history, right behind the record of 10:31.57, set by Sarah Yoder (Baker '05) in 2006.

The 4x400 relay squad's sixth-place finish may have been disappointing, but the result was not representative of their performance. The team, made up of seniors Desarie Walwyn and Chandra Ewing and sophomores Brittany Washington and Sarah Lyons, ran a regional-qualifying time of 3:37.68 in the penultimate race of the meet. Their time, along with Lyons' 52.5 split, was the fastest run by Rice since 2005, and the mark is now seventh-best in the nation.

Two weekends ago, Rice hosted the Victor Lopez Bayou Classic, where the 4x400 relay team won with a time of 3:41.93. Additionally, sophomore Shakera Reece brought home two golds for Rice in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Lyons also placed second in the 400 with a regional qualifying time of 53.63. In a warmup of what was to come, Greff cleared a 12-7.5 vault to win the event and earn a place at the regional championships.

Most notable, however, was Jimoh's long jump mark of 22-8. The remarkable distance not only qualified her for the Olympic Trials, but was the longest by an American athlete since Rose Richmond leapt 22-9 in 2006.

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