Reece sprints into history in season's second meet

By Natalie Clericuzio     2/4/10 6:00pm

It's never too early to make history. In only the second meet of the indoor track season, senior Shakera Reece set Rice's second-fastest time for the women's 60-meter dash, with a time of 7.39 seconds. The mark was just one one-hundredth of a second away from the school record, 7.38, set by TaNisha Mills (Jones, '98) in 1997.

However, Head Coach Jim Bevan calls Reece's performance the best in Rice history, as Mills' record came at high altitudes.

"[Reece's] performance on Jan. 30 was absolutely tremendous," Bevan said. "It is actually the best time ever run by a Rice female because our school record of 7.38 was set at 7,000-feet elevation. They average in an altitude adjustment of .04 seconds, so [Reece's] performance supercedes the school record."

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Reece's time, the 14th-best in the country this year and good enough to earn her Conference USA Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors, is especially impressive, as it comes only three weeks into the season. Bevan says her early showing presages a postseason for Reece.

"Doubly impressive was the fact that it happened in January, because we're still early on," Bevan said. "Obviously she should get better. She should be running at the national level by the end of the season."

While Reece has had up-and-down performances over the past two seasons, she began her Rice career auspiciously, winning Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors three years ago. After a hip injury her sophomore year, however, Reece's development was sidetracked.

But after this weekend's performance, Bevan believes Reece has finally recovered.

"She has regained where she looked like she was going freshman year," the coach said. "She is fulfilling the potential that she showed three years ago."

While Reece was not sure how she would perform going into last weekend's race, she thought she had a chance at the record.

"I did really well my freshman year, and this is about where I was freshman year," Reece said. "But since then, I've been injured a whole bunch. I expected it later down in the season for sure."

Reece is not going to settle for her almost-record-breaking time, however. In fact, she aims to break two school records this season.

"I definitely want to try to break the school record in the 100-meter race] and try the 200, because that's definitely harder," Reece said. "I'm going to try to go as fast as I can as this is my senior year."

Even for a seasoned coach like Bevan, watching Reece's performance was a thrill.

"I went and hugged [Assistant Coach] Andrea [Blackett] and let out a yell," Bevan said. "The 60 indoor is the purest event. It's equivalent to the 100 outdoor. In all athletic endeavors going back since people have competed, the simplest thing is to see who's the fastest person from here to there.

"Shakera's the fastest person in the history of Rice women's track and field, which speaks volumes for her talent, ability and her perseverance to see through her training and through her injury that she had a couple years ago. It speaks volumes in her senior year."

Reece's performance may have taken top billing last weekend, but Reece was not the only Owl to find success in an event. Junior Ari Ince won the pole vault, with a vault of 3.85 meters. Sophomore Cleona Oliver was close behind in fourth, vaulting at 3.40 meters.

Junior Alex Gibbs led all hurdlers, taking second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.92.

Another Rice event win came in the 800-meter run, as sophomore Keltie John led all competitors and finished in 2:10.65.

Bevan was especially impressed by John's finish.

"Keltie was absolutely dynamite in the 800," Bevan said. "The fact that she ran a 2:10 on that flat track in January is absolutely outstanding."

The 3,000-meter run was perhaps the best example of the team's breadth of talent, as junior Becky Wade, senior Britany Williams and sophomore Marie Thompson took second, third and fourth, respectively. The team accomplished that feat without junior Allison Pye, who will not be running indoors this season after being sidelined by various injuries.

With improvements across events for the Owls, Bevan expects to see this trend continue with competitions this weekend, which will see his squad compete at the University of Houston All-Comers Meet.

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