Women's track flies to first place in five events

By Natalie Clericuzio     2/5/09 6:00pm

In two meets, senior Lennie Waite has set two conference records in two different events, first in the mile two weeks ago and then the 3000-meter run last weekend. But she is not the only member of the women's track and field team to find success during that span - five other Owls won events last weekend at the Houston Invitational, and several others earned personal bests.

Despite their positive performances, however, the team is certainly looking ahead to the rapidly-approaching Conference USA Indoor Championships, which are slated for Feb. 27-28 at the University of Houston's Yeoman Fieldhouse.

"There was definitely a difference between [our first two meets]," head coach Jim Bevan said. "We're making progress, but so are Houston and the University of Central Florida. So we've got to make a lot of progress in a month, but we're on the right track."

---

---

The women will send competitors to three meets this weekend. Sophomore pole vaulter Ari Ince will travel to the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on the University of Nebraska campus in Lincoln, Neb., tomorrow. The members of the distance medley relay and the 4x400 meter relay will travel to the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind., while the rest of the squad will compete locally in a smaller meet at UH.

Last week's Houston Invitational was not scored, but the Owls appeared not to need any extra incentive to perform well. Waite, this week's C-USA Co-Female Athlete Of the Week, won the 3000 in 9:27.55. Her time was good enough to earn a provisional qualifying mark for the NCAA National Indoor Championships and is the 13th-fastest time run in the country this season. According to Bevan, her result was only a few seconds off the fastest time run at Yeoman Fieldhouse in 12 years.

Bevan said he switched Waite from the mile to the 3000 this meet to see what her body was capable of, and he was not disappointed.

"It's one of the most impressive performances I've seen from a Rice distance runner in a long time," Bevan said. "As she gets the dividends from her hard work, more mileage and more distance training, it's logical that she can continue running fast for a longer period of time."

As if Waite's impressive performance were not enough, four other Owls finished in quick succession behind her to secure all of the top five spots in the 3000: junior Nicole Mericle (9:46.99), sophomore Allison Pye (9:49.28), junior Britany Williams (9:53.23) and sophomore Becky Wade (9:53.85).

Bevan said in order for the runners to qualify for the fastest heat at the conference meet, all of them needed to finish in under 10 minutes. The team took turns leading each other and running as a group until the final 500 meters.

In addition to Rice's success in the 3000, several other competitors claimed victories in other events. Junior Shakera Reece won the 200 in 24.86, while fellow junior Sarah Lyons took first in the 400, her time of 56.99 placing her just ahead of teammate Brittany Washington. Freshman Keltie John, running in just her second collegiate track race, came out two-for-two in first-place finishes, winning the 800 with a personal indoor best of 2:14.18. Wade finished first in the mile at 4:56.13, while Pye finished third in 4:59.17.

Lastly, Ince tied the personal best she set two weeks prior with a vault of 3.95 meters.

Bevan said he has noticed consistent improvement by Ince in competition throughout the season.

"It might not have been shown by the result, but she looks better," Bevan said. "She attacks her approach and she attacks her plan. I'm very impressed with the way she's approaching her event."

Even those Rice competitors who failed to get first-place finishes still turned in strong performances. Freshman Michaela Reynolds led for most of the 5000m race, only to finish second in 17:55.16. Every Owl weight-thrower garnered personal bests, and junior Katie Dollinger placed sixth overall with a shotput throw of 15.46m. Junior Britney Blodget finished sixth in the pentathlon, with a personal best of 3041 points. Reece finished third in the 60-meter dash, and sophomore Kimberly Stanford placed third in the 60-meter hurdles. The 4x400m relay also performed well, placing second overall with a time of 3:50.22.

Because the indoor season is so short, Bevan said the team cannot afford any relapse in performance over the coming weeks.

"We're [only] two meets into the season, but ... conference is only four weeks away," Bevan. "Basketball has been playing since November and they have another week before their tournament. Swimming starts in October and their conference meet is the same time as ours. We don't have a lot of meets so it's important they get some races in and they should get better every time they go out.

---