Women's track can't break Longhorns' streak
In Fort Worth last weekend, the University of Texas continued its dominance of Southwest Conference track. The Rice women's track and field team settled for a second-place finish at the indoor meet for the second year in a row. It was the Longhorns' 12th straight title.
The meet was scored with the winner of each race earning 10 points and the next finishers getting eight, six, four, two and one, respectively.
The Longhorns racked up a total of 123 points to the Owls' 83. They were followed by Texas A&M University (73), Southern Methodist University (65) and Baylor University (53).
The Texas team benefited from a strong core of sprinters who were able to rack up points while pushing other teams' top sprinters out of scoring finishes.
The Longhorns placed four of the top five spots in the 200 meters, the top two in the 400 meters and the top five in the 55 meters. In total, 74 of Texas' points came in these three events.
"There is a tendency for some schools to recruit more in certain areas," Head Coach Victor Lopez said. "That is the strategy they use. We are more well-rounded."
The middle and distance runners did the bulk of the scoring for the team.
The distance-medley relay team of senior Holly Welch, freshman Chaundra Frank, junior Alex Gajewski and freshman Shaquandra Roberson claimed the team's only SWC Indoor title.
They set a new school record and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor meet with a time of 11:41.28.
Their time was also a SWC Indoor Championships record.
"We ran an awesome race," Roberson said. "You really don't expect that to happen going in."
Welch said that the team hadn't expected such a great time.
"We hadn't planned on running really fast. We knew we had a solid team, but everyone had second races to run that day," she said. "We just wanted to run as fast as we needed to win, so it [the time] was kind of a surprise."
Three Owls scored in a competitive mile run. Less than three seconds separated first and fifth place. Sophomore Alexis Smith took second with a time of 4:54.86. Senior Stacy Swank followed just behind in third with a 4:55.11. Freshman Kari Vigerstol's time of 4:55.70 earned fifth.
Swank and Vigerstol also ran the 3,000 meters. Swank earned second with a 9:59.04. Gajewski ran a 10:14.69 for fourth. Vigerstol took sixth with a time of 10:18.25.
Senior Katy Eklof took third in the 5,000 meters with a season's best time of 17:01.85.
Roberson finished just .85 seconds behind Texas' Dana Riley in the 800 meters. Her time of 2:10.92 was a personal record.
"I was really surprised with the time," Roberson said. "It is good to know that you can push that extra step."
Lopez was pleased with Rober-son's performance.
"She ran great," he said. "It looks like she is going to have a great career here."
The 4x400 relay team of junior TaNisha Mills, junior Andrea Blackett, Frank and junior Melissa Straker finished behind Baylor in a race in which Texas did not compete.
Frank normally does not run with the relay team. She had to substitute for senior Vonda Newhouse, who was injured in the finals of the 55 meters.
Frank concluded her busy day's work with a ninth-place finish in the high jump.
Blackett ran 8.18 in the 55 hurdles earning sixth place.
Mills also earned a sixth-place finish with a time of 7.13 in the 55 meters. She also finished sixth in the 200 meters with a season-best time of 24.67.
Straker and Blackett also ran the 400 meters. Straker took third with a 54.25, followed by Blackett with a sixth-place 55.49.
The team was well represented in the field events.
Junior Cherita Howard took fifth in the long jump with a leap of 5.92 meters.
Howard also had a triple jump of 12.19 meters, resulting in a third- place finish.
Junior Rosita Hogan's triple jump of 12.10 earned her fifth place.
Junior Trisha Harris finished fourth in the shot put with a season- best mark of 13.32 meters.
The conclusion of the indoor season leaves the team with three individuals and two relay teams setting provisional qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor meet.
Whether these times will earn a spot at the meet won't be known for a few weeks.
A few selected relay teams and individuals may attend a "last-chance" meet this weekend. It will be a final opportunity to either improve upon or record NCAA qualification times.
This item appeared in the Sports section of the February 23, 1996 issue.
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