Women's track looks to defend outdoor championship this weekend

By Natalie Clericuzio     5/14/09 7:00pm

Even though classes have been finished for a month, the Rice women's track team has been training hard and busy competing in three major meets. The team has used the extra free time that comes after finals conclude to prepare and rest for the Conference USA meet this Thurdsay, Friday and Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., on the campus of the University of Tulsa.

Two weeks ago, the team traveled to the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., for the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on May 2. Head coach Jim Bevan said the team made the trip in order to attempt some quicker times in distance events.

Senior Callie Wells led the Owls as she set a school record in the 5000 meters, finishing in 16:20.95, good for third place. Her time improved on sophomore Allison Pye's 16:21.35 mark, the previous school record, set on April 17 at the Mt. Sac Relays. Wells' time is also good enough to qualify her for the NCAA regional meet.

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Wells was not the only Owl to have success in the 5000 run. Junior Britany Williams finished fourth behind Wells in 16:24.42 while sophomore Becky Wade placed fifth in 16:27.77. Both Williams's and Wade's times, lifetime bests, were good enough to punch their tickets for the regional meet.

However, Stanford was not all easy running for the Owls. Senior Lennie Waite just missed placement in the fast heat of the 1500 meters, which was filled mostly with post-collegians. Her time of 4:20.09 was not as fast as she had hoped to score.

Bevan said he had expected another fast competitor to run in Waite's heat, which ended up not being the case.

"They were supposed to supply a rabbit for her race and anytime that a rabbit that isn't used to rabbitting is asked to do it you never know what's going to happen," Bevan said. "Lennie ended up leading all but the last 200 meters so she was a little disappointed. I really feel she is fit enough to run under 4:15 but she had to carry the whole load so running it she was frustrated."

Rice also ran into difficulty in the 10,000 meters. Pye and junior Nicole Mericle entered the race, but neither completed the run. Bevan chose to pull his runners in order to preserve them for the conference meet and for nationals.

Stanford wasn't the only destination for the Owls on May 2, as the rest of the track team competed at the Texas Invitational at the University of Texas. Several Owls posted strong marks at the collegiate and post-collegiate meet, including junior Shakera Reece, who had what Bevan called "the best meet of her season." Even though Reece had already met the regional qualifying mark in the 100 meters, she lowered her 11.67 mark to 11.53 to finish eighth overall. She also nabbed a 23.74 finish in the 200, good for 10th overall.

Additionally, freshman Cleona Oliver vaulted well, earning herself a regional qualifier with a height of 3.7 meters, a season-best mark, placing sixth only behind competitors from Texas A&M University and post-collegians.

The week before, on April 29, Rice hosted the J. Fred Duckett Twilight meet. There, several Owls improved upon previous times. Most notably, Waite set the school record in the 800 meters with a regional qualifying time.

Despite her success on the short track, Bevan said Waite will focus on longer distances for the regional meet.

In addition to Waite, three of her teammates posted season-best times in the 800: junior Vicki Walker at 2:10.26 in second, freshman Sophie Peeters at 2:11.62 in third and freshman Keltie John at 2:13.82 in fifth.

The Rice throwers also had an incredibly strong meet, with several lifetime bests. In fact, all four of the Rice throwers - junior Katie Dollinger, sophomores Tina Robinson and Catherine Fitzsimmons and freshman Brittany Brown - earned season bests in the hammer throw.

While the team has focused on earning regional marks all season, now the C-USA Outdoor Championship is up for grabs as well. Rice aims to earn its third-straight outdoor championship. The meet will be strongly contested, as Bevan sees University of Central Florida as especially strong competition.

"[UCF is] a better outdoor team than indoors," Bevan said. "You add the 400 hurdles and they have very good hurdlers and you add the 4x100 instead of the distance medley and that helps them."

Aside from UCF, Bevan also sees the University of Houston, Southern Methodist University and host, Tulsa, as possible foes for the Owls. While a few team members have sustained injuries throughout the season, Bevan expects to have sophomore Ari Ince vaulting once again for the Owls, who should be a help in boosting the Owls' point total.

The conference meet will also be an excellent opportunity for Rice to gain a few more regional qualifiers. Currently Rice boasts nine qualifiers and Bevan believes six or seven other girls can reach regional marks.

"There's nothing like a conference meet," Bevan said. "We're done with school, done with finals, we're rested, the competition level is high, the arousal is high and it's a championship meet so there's a lot of people who are knocking on the door. Stick them in a championship environment and the door can open."

Regardless of how many more Owls compete at regionals, Bevan also expects Rice to have six or seven competitors at the national meet in Little Rock, Ark., June 10-13, and for a handful of those to earn points for the Owls. That sort of scoring capability will allow Rice to be competitive on the national level and end the season among the top squads in the country yet again.

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