Women fall short of C-USA four-peat
Two weeks ago, the women's track team stood on the threshold of history, one event away from winning four consecutive Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, a feat unmatched in women's C-USA history. Headed into the final event of the meet, the 4x400 relay, Rice stood half a point ahead of its nearest competitor, the University of Texas - El Paso. UTEP's relay team finished the event in 3:46.83 in a heat preceding the Owls' run. Rice needed to beat that time to win the meet, but the Owls posted only a 3:49.38 finish. With that, UTEP surged ahead to defeat Rice in point total, 113.5 to 110.
The slim margin of victory was no surprise to Head Coach Jim Bevan. He had just hoped it would belong to his Owls instead.
"On paper, our score was 99, but we scored 110," Bevan said. "UTEP on paper had 98 points and they scored 113.5.
... We did compete well, event by event, but we just missed out by a little. Three and a half points in a 17-event meet is ... less than a quarter of a point per event."
Though the team did not capture another overall championship at the University of Houston's Yeoman Fieldhouse, three Owls took gold medals and several others earned career-best marks. Junior Becky Wade won the mile run, junior Ari Ince took the pole vault title and sophomore Keltie John earned top honors in the 800-meter run.
Wade's performance was particularly impressive considering the array of events in which she competed over the weekend.
"Becky was asked to run the 5,000, mile and 3K, which is a lot of running," Bevan said. "She beat the No. 1 seed in the mile in a very, very exciting race after the girl she had beat had won the 5K the day before and Becky was fifth. "
Ince's top finish was complemented by the performance of sophomore Cleona Oliver. Seeded sixth entering the pole vault, Oliver pulled out a second-place finish behind Ince.
Senior Shannon Moran performed outside of her comfort zone as well, spending a long day in competition. She began the heptathlon at 9 a.m. and continued competing until her main event, the long jump, at 4:30 that afternoon. Though seeded only twelfth overall, she pulled out an indoor best mark at 18 feet 11.75 inches, good enough for seventh place and two points.
Junior Tina Robinson greatly extended her lifetime best in the shot put, throwing 13.47 meters and placing seventh.
Additionally, the 3,000 meter had a dramatic finish for Rice, according to Bevan.
"[Senior] Nicole [Mericle] came from ninth with 1,200 meters left in the 3K to go and eventually finished third with the meet on the line," Bevan said. "She was chasing down first place and dug down and put together a tremendous last 1,000 meters, closing in on the eventual winner."
Mericle's performance, in a way, was indicative of how the meet went for Rice: impressive and a great achievement, but not quite good enough for the title.
However, the Owls' strong team-wide performances suggest a strong showing from the team when it comes time for the outdoor season to begin March 19.
"We've had a lot just on the edge to hit something big, and that bodes well for the outdoor season," Bevan said.
For example, Bevan noted that Ince looks poised to break through on vaulting.
"Ari looked great," Bevan said. "She had a couple vaults that suggest to me outdoors she'll hit 13 feet 8 inches or 14 feet."
Senior Britany Williams, who has only known victory at conference meets, said she said the meet yielded at least one positive result.
"After conference meets, we always tend to be a little bit more like a family," Williams said. "Whether you win or lose the conference meet, you always remember why you're here. Sure, track is a bit of an individual sport, but at the end of the day we're wearing a Rice uniform and we're doing this for Rice."
The week after the conference, a few Owls traveled to Notre Dame to compete in the Alex Wilson Invitational. Williams, who competed in the 3,000, 5,000 and mile runs at the conference meet, earned a NCAA National provisional qualifying time in the mile at 4:50.64. That time was a 32-second improvement from her high school mile pace and was good enough for the top C-USA time in the mile.
Bevan was especially impressed with her performance.
"Britany came in as a bonafide walk-on and the fact that she's come that far is tremendous," Bevan said. "It speaks well to her devotion, sacrifice and ability to compete. She's come a long way from high school. I give her a lot of credit because she's one of the better milers in the [United States] and has come from being one of the better milers in San Antonio."
For Williams, earning a provisional time fulfilled a long-time personal goal.
"Sure, I may not have gone top three in the mile conference, but at least I ended my season knowing I'm number one in something and I can end my season knowing I provisionally qualified, which has been a goal of mine since the moment I stepped on campus," Williams said. "It's nice to finally say I had a goal and I met it.
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