Men's track prepares for last conference tournament
Men's track continued its march through the outdoor season last Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Austin.
The Owls were competing against the University of Texas, Texas A&M University and the University of Houston.
Although Rice finished last with 18 total points compared to A&M's winning 71, the emphasis was on priming individual competitors for later in the season.
As has often been the case this season, the 800 meters was a premier event.
With Brian Klein remaining out of action because of injury, Andrew Burrow won the event in one minute, 51.53 seconds with freshman teammate Jaime Price on his heels for second in 1:51.71. Dan Brooks took fourth in 1:54.84.
"The race unfolded really well," Brooks said. "It was very competitive: You could say it was stacked. I mean, they had the lanes assigned on purpose. And even though TCU [Texas Christian University] wasn't officially competing, they brought their best runner, too."
In fact, TCU's Khadevis Robinson whipped the rest of the field with a time of 1:49.42, serving notice that although the Owls have thus far dominated in the outdoor 800, the conference event will not be a cakewalk.
The number of Owls competing was again limited by injuries, but several of those in action made the most of the opportunity.
Jeff Lewis placed third in the 1,500 meters in 3:56.21, indicating again that he has returned to good racing form following his rehabilitation from an injury sustained late in the indoor season.
In the 3,000 meters, Luis Armenteros crossed the finish line in 8:34.82, good for second place.
That performance was especially promising because it was the last of several races he had run within two days.
This kind of experience helps prepare him for the conference meet in which he might have to run several long races relatively close together.
Derras Wilmington took fifth place in the 110-meter high hurdles in a time of 14.54, and Ash Martinez was Rice's top finisher in the 400 meters, taking eighth place in 51.34. Martinez has been the one to carry the Owl banner this year in the 400 meters -- a pleasant surprise for a freshman walk-on.
"At first I was a little intimidated about competing at this level," he said. "But I've been working real hard and building my strength this season. The last four weeks of training have been really great, and I know that I'm stronger now than I've ever been."
Jaime de Mahy finished second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:33.7.
His performance has also been rewarding, considering that he had never run a steeplechase prior to this season.
"The steeplechase requires a lot of strength," de Mahy said. "So Coach Jon Warren, who's really an expert in the event, recruited me from the distance runners.
"It's taken a lot of practice. Even though it's only 3,000 meters, the barriers take a lot of energy; so hurdle drills, for example, have been critical to my improvement."
De Mahy's time was a dramatic improvement over his performance last week.
"The race went out fast," he said. "But I started to catch people at the end, and that's the strength that we've been working on."
It appeared for a time that he would actually win the event, but he lost the lead and could not recover it when he stumbled and nearly fell on the last barrier.
In the long jump, Drexell Owusu's 22-5.25 landed him sixth place.
Every other Owl competing in a field event took fifth place.
Arthur Terry threw the discus 146-7, Kodili Odimgbe put the shot 49-6.5, and Ross Andres cleared 6-4 in the high jump.
"Some people did well at the meet; others were disappointed," de Mahy said. "But we really weren't looking to score a lot of points as a team."
Indeed, that won't be the objective until conference, when hopefully everyone will be healthy, and the Owls will hopefully be able to compete well as a team.
"Conference will be a learning experience for me," Martinez said. "I'm hoping to break 50 seconds within the month and then run my fastest time ever at conference."
The immediate future also looks bright for de Mahy's efforts in the steeplechase.
"That's one event that the conference really isn't loaded in. So I hope to score some points for the team then," de Mahy said.
Regardless of that outcome, this young team looks poised for the future and should mature into a formidable force.
They will be aided next year by Rashad Stafford of DeSoto High School in Texas and Kwabena Mensa of St. Michael's High School in the Bronx, New York City.
The two have signed letters of intent to attend Rice.
Stafford, the current state leader in the 110-meter high hurdles, has run a personal best of 13.5.
He is also a jack of all trades, having run a 37.1 in the 300 hurdles, 48.1 in the 400 meters, and jumped 6-8 in the high jump.
Mensa will provide what the Owls have most noticeably lacked this year: a sprinter.
This item appeared in the Sports section of the April 26, 1996 issue.
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