Split track squad continues success
The slowest time in the women's 3000-meter run ever to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship is 9 minutes, 18 seconds. Last weekend at the Notre Dame's Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind., senior Lennie Waite ran a 9:16. While the season will not conclude until the end of the month, it looks as though Waite has at least a decent shot to qualify for the premier competition in the country. Waite and the rest of the women's track and field team will have the opportunity to secure more postseason berths next weekend when a 28-woman squad competes at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station. There, the Owls will compete against every Division I school in Texas, along with Louisiana Tech University, the University of Miami, Arizona State University and Northwestern University. The competition will be stiff, as Arizona State won the national indoor title two years ago and Texas A&M was ranked first in the nation coming into the 2009 season. Also, the meet will have additional championship feel, since the Aggies' brand-new indoor facility happens to be the site of this year's championship meet.
Head coach Jim Bevan said the opportunity to run on the championship track is not one Rice takes lightly.
"It's a start-of-the-art facility we're looking forward to competing on because it's one of the best tracks in the United States," Bevan said.
This past weekend was one of continued success not only by Waite, who finished fourth, but across the team. Eight competitors posted season or lifetime bests in their performances this weekend. Perhaps most impressively, freshman Keltie John posted lifetime bests in both the mile and 800 meters over the course of 90 minutes.
Waite and junior Nicole Mericle both posted season-best times in the 3000-meter run and both earned provisional-qualifying times for the NCAA Championships. Waite's 9:16.90, which was 11 seconds faster than her effort last weekend, is the 13th-fastest time run this season, as well as the top time in Conference USA. Her mark is also the second-fastest 3000 ever run in Rice's history. Pam Klassen (Lovett '86) is the only runner with a faster time, at 9:11.32.
Bevan said he was extremely impressed by Waite's consistent improvement.
"That was a tremendous performance," Bevan said. "She led for the first 2000 meters of the 3000 in a field with some of the better runners in the country. It showed an awful lot of willpower to go out and lead like that."
He said Mericle's run also showed great promise for the rest of her season.
"She's getting on a roll again," Bevan said. "Two weeks ago for her was very good. This last week was even better."
However, the distance runners were not the sole team members with impressive weekends. In the pole vault, sophomore Ari Ince continued her successful season, placing second overall with a vault of 3.90 meters at the Frank Sevigne Invitational in Omaha, Neb.
Back in Indiana, junior Brittany Washington ran the fastest 400-meter run of her career, tallying a mark of 55.22. Washington's time earned her third place, Rice's top overall time at Notre Dame. The junior also ran a strong leg for the 4x400 relay team, along with classmates Vicki Walker, Shakera Reece and Sarah Lyons. The four Owls posted their top finish of the season thus far at 3:44.14, and at six seconds faster than a week ago, their time also places them ahead of the rest of C-USA.
In addition, Reece's 24.50 in the 200-meter dash was her fastest this season and earned her seventh place overall, while Walker ran her fastest 800 this year in 2:14.33. Junior Britany Williams, Rice's top finisher in the mile, took home a season best as well at 4:55.16.
Closer to home, Rice entered a group of runners in the University of Houston All-Comers Meet, held on the UH campus. Freshman Lucie Cincinnatis improved her time in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing fourth with a time of 8.86 seconds. Junior Shannon Moran placed fourth in the long jump, turning in a leap of 5.39 meters. Lastly, freshman Brittany Brown and sophomore Tina Robinson finished fifth and sixth in the weight throw, respectively, each throwing 15.06 meters.
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