Weather and winds slow runners
The Texas Invitational Meet was supposed to be the day when Rice would unleash the majority of its feared foursome of half-milers in the Southwest. April 13, the coaches hoped, would yield as many as three NCAA qualifications in the 800 meters.
Instead, adverse weather conditions and lingering injuries made for another low-key event.
"Of course it was low-key," said freshman Jaime Price. "It was put on by A&M."
The featured race was to be the 800 meters, an event in which Rice boasts four world-class performers: Price, Derrick Small, Andrew Burrow and Southwest Conference indoor champion Brian Klein.
But Klein's problems with ligaments in one leg, at first thought to be a temporary setback, lingered, and he was not expected to run.
Small did not run either, having been sick the week prior to the meet.
That left Price and Burrow to show their speed. Although they were not upstaged, they were unable to run to NCAA provisional standards because the wind was too strong.
"We realized from the start that the wind was going to prevent us from running as fast as we could," Price said.
Thus, the two decided to take the first half of the race relatively leisurely -- in 55 to 56 seconds -- and not push the pace.
"I went out quickly at Texas Relays and just died down the stretch," Price said. "I didn't want that to happen again."
Price was leading the race until the final 100 meters, when Burrow outkicked all his opponents.
Burrow won the race in 1:52.12, and his freshman teammate finished second in 1:52.33.
Rice did land one NCAA qualification, courtesy of junior Quinton Milner, who finished third in the 400-meter hurdles in 50.98.
The time is only significant in indicating that Milner is continuing to stay on pace; he had already qualified provisionally at an earlier meet.
Milner was the beneficiary of one of the meet's few fast races, as Eric Thomas of Nike set the meet and track records for the 400-meter hurdles with his winning time of 50.08.
The other successes of the meet belong to Luis Armenteros, who is in the midst of a banner senior season.
Armenteros showcased his versatility, warming up by winning the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:58.69.
He then took on the much longer distance of 5,000 meters -- and won that race, too, in 14:51.40.
"This week we focused more on getting good races," he said. "The times weren't so spectacular, but the races were really quite impressive."
Armenteros was in control throughout both events before pulling away from the competition near the end.
"When I wanted to make a move, I was pretty much able to make it," he said. "I've been training to be faster at the end of longer races, and I've had more of a reserve to finish them off this year."
The only other athlete to score points on the track was Jamie deMahy, who took second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:13.67.
This is the first year the junior has competed in that event. DeMahy has developed into a fairly good hurdler, but next week Armenteros will try his skill in the steeplechase as well.
In the field, freshman Ross Andres jumped an even 2 meters (6-6.75) to capture second in the high jump.
Junior Kodili Odimgbe put the shot 50-4.5 for third place in that event.
Rice's two entrants in the long jump posted numbers consistent with their performances thus far this season.
Drexell Owusu was 11th after landing 22-8 feet from take-off. Derras Wilmington placed seventh with a 23-9 effort.
Again doing double duty in the 110-meter hurdles, Wilmington finished fifth in that event in 14.39.
Next up for the Owls is the Texas Triangular, to be held tomorrow in Austin.
The dual meet with Texas and Texas A&M is the last tune-up before the Penn Relays April 27-28.
Although tomorrow's event will not be big, it does hold the promise of those elusive 800-meter qualifications.
It is always a good race when two or more of Rice's half-milers compete against each other, and Price, at least, thinks that fast times could be run.
"Everything needs to come together for me," he said. "But if the wind is right and it's a fast race, I could qualify."
Everything does seem to have come together for Armenteros this season. "In the past I've always been versatile in quantity, but not necessarily in quality," he said. "This year it seems like when I run well in one event, I run well in all."
The other Owls are seeking similar success. Price acknowledged that he could run under 1:50, but he cautioned that "predicting specific times seems to jinx me."
Tomorrow, the Rice men's track will look to break the cycle of bad weather and injuries that have been hounding them recently.
This item appeared in the Sports section of the April 19, 1996 issue.
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