Initial women's meet brings two provisional times

By Natalie Clericuzio     1/22/09 6:00pm

After winning both the conference indoor and outdoor championships last season, as well as earning a No.1 ranking in Conference USA, the women's track and field team entered the 2009 season with plenty of expectations. With a win in their first meet of the season last Friday, where they defeated the University of Texas and the University of Houston, perennial track and field powerhouses, the Owls proved they could still outmuscle the best.

In the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational at Houston's Yeoman Fieldhouse, Rice began its indoor season with excellent performances in several events.

Perhaps most impressively, sophomore Ari Ince won the pole vault with a provisional qualifying vault and lifetime best of 3.95 meters. This jump marked a nine-inch improvement on her previous best vault, and continues the strong Rice tradition in pole vaulting begun by All-Americans Beth Henshaw (Wiess '04) and Rachel Greff.

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Ince's performance impressed head coach Jim Bevan, especially considering it took place indoors.

"When you consider it wasn't outdoors with tailwind, and it was the first meet of the year, [and] she hasn't vaulted [in competition] since last year in May.it's quite an opening," Bevan said. "Even more impressive is there's always fine-tuning that goes on in field events and there's a lot more that she's capable of."

Bevan credited Ince's great improvement to several factors, including maturity, technical soundness, and better overall athleticism.

The other Rice competitor who completed a provisional qualifying mark was senior Lennie Waite, who won the mile with a time of 4:48.

Bevan said Waite's season-opening time was the fastest he could remember during his 25-year tenure at Rice.

"[Waite] came to the sport a little late, so she's a little more mature, she's a better athlete, [and] she knows what to expect," Bevan said. "She's very fit and she's worked very hard over the last year."

Because she has been around as long as she has, Waite said Yeoman Fieldhouse has become familiar territory.

"I feel like I'm at home in the mile, especially at the Houston stadium, because we have raced there so many times," Waite said. "I walk in there, and I have a routine, and I know what to do, and I'm really comfortable on their track and running there."

Waite was not the only Owl to excel in the mile. Juniors Nicole Mericle and Britany Williams finished second and third with times of 4:55 and 4:57, respectively. Mericle improved upon her starting mile time by 12 seconds, while Williams earned a lifetime best by 9 seconds. Sophomore Allison Pye rounded out the top five with a fifth-place finish of 5:01.

The mile was not the only strong event for the distance runners. Sophomore Becky Wade, who spent most of the cross-country season sidelined with injury and illness, won the 5,000km with a time of 17:25. Freshman Michaela Reynolds also ran well in the event, finishing fifth overall in 18:03, her second-best time in her career.

Bevan noted that Wade's strategy served her well in the race.

"Becky's where she was last year - she got through all of her problems in the fall and she ran with other runners for two miles and then ran as hard as she could for the last mile," Bevan said. "She put 15 seconds between her and the next runner in the last mile. That was her strategy."

Perhaps the best display of teamwork by the distance runners came in the distance medley relay. Freshman Sophie Peeters began the race for Rice, finishing near the middle of the pack. In the 400m-leg, junior Britney Blodget maintained the Owls' place. Junior Brittany Washington ran a strong 800m for the Owls, passing two competitors near the handoff of the baton.

Taking the baton for the final 1600, Mericle began to pull away. After 1000 meters, she had caught up with the Houston leader, and for the rest of the run she continued to pull away. Mericle's anchor leg brought the Owls a first-place finish with a time of 12:10, ahead of runners from Houston and the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

The other first-place finish for Rice came in the 800m. Freshman Keltie John ran a lifetime indoor best of 2:13. Waite followed John closely, finishing in 2:14.

Junior Shakera Reece started her sprint season well, finishing third in the 60m in a time of 7.52, a lifetime best and a high finish between two strong Texas sprinters. Washington, who ran in the distance medley relay, also ran the 400m and finished third just under a minute in 58.64. Sophomore Sarah Agara placed third in the triple jump, with a length of 38'9.5". Lastly, sophomore Kimberly Stanford started her year off with a stronger time in the 60m hurdles in 8.73, finishing in sixth place.

The weight throwers - junior Katie Dollinger, sophomore Tina Robinson and freshman Brittany Brown - all improved on their lifetime bests. Dollinger reached her first final of her career with a throw of 11.23 meters.

Finally, the 4x400m relay team showed promise for improvement upon last season. The team was missing Washington, as Bevan wanted her to rest and not overextend herself in her first meet of the year. However, the team still finished fourth overall with a time of 4:00.44.

Overall, Bevan said that the meet was a good first of the season.

"I was very pleased," Bevan said. "It's nice when you win a meet. Even though this wasn't very much about team scoring, we did beat Texas, Houston, UAB and Louisiana Tech, four good schools.. The biggest things are we came out of the meet pretty healthy, we won the meet [and] we competed hard.

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