TRACK AND FIELD: Year starts well for Rice
Competing against various teams from around the region, the women's team placed second overall with 83 total points, while the men's team earned 71 points to finish fourth.
"They did better than I thought we were ready to do," men's Head Coach Ray Davidson said. "It was a really good team effort."
The Rice women finished behind the University of Texas, who compiled 119 points, and ahead of Tulane University, Louisiana State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Houston and Southern University.
The Rice men placed behind Texas, who also won the men's division with 87 total points, LSU and Houston. Rice finished in front of former Southwest Conference rival Texas A&M, as well as Southern, Tulane and Prairie View A&M University.
One of Rice's two first-place honors came in a victory by Adam Reiser in the men's 3,000-meter run. Reiser ran for a time of 8:35.72, while Jamie de Mahy placed seventh in the event with a time of 8:56.56.
"Adam Reiser did a really great job at the 3,000 meters," Davidson said. "He's finally blossomed, and ran superbly."
The other first-place finish came in the triple jump competition when Drexel Owusu jumped 14.8 meters, .18 meters ahead of the second-place finisher.
Rice earned medals in another event, the one-mile run. Dan Brooks finished second with a time of 4:21.27 minutes, 5.41 seconds off the first-place finisher's mark.
After placing second in the qualifying heat, freshman Rashad Stafford finished fourth in the men's 60-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.10 seconds, .17 seconds behind first-place finisher Houston's Darius Pemberton, the event's reigning national champion.
Davidson said he looks forward to watching the hurdlers progress during the season.
"We've got some young hurdlers who have a chance to be in the top two or three at the conference level," Davidson said.
In the 400-meter run, Quinton Milner also had a strong outing, finishing with a time of 49.53 seconds to put him in second place, behind a time of 48.26 seconds. Charlie Ghandour also placed in the event with a time of 52.29 to finish 13th. Stafford placed 16th, running in 53.44 seconds, while Josh Hardy followed in 18th place with a time of 53.56.
"Rashad had a really good meet," Davidson said. "He ran well against really good kids. He's training to be a decathlete."
Rice had two competitors place in the men's 800-meter run. Jamie Price ran for a time of 1:56.23 minutes to finish fifth, while Ash Martinez placed 17th with a time of 2:05.14 minutes.
In the relay events, the 4x400-meter relay squad finished second with a time of 3:15.50 minutes. The distance relay squad also finished second with a time of 10:12.62.
In the high jump competition, Stafford placed sixth with a jump of 2.05 meters. Meanwhile, Bobby Constantine jumped 4.80 meters to finish fourth in the pole vault.
Rice had several competitors place in the long jump, including Owusu, who jumped 6.80 meters to finish third. Ghandour placed 10th in the field with a jump of 6.41 meters, while Constantine jumped 6.01 meters to place 15th.
Rice men finished strongly in the shot put event, with Kodili Odimgbe placing sixth, throwing a distance of 15.51 meters. Stafford had a distance of 11.00 meters for an 18th-place finish, and Ghandour followed with a distance of 10.90 meters for 19th place.
The Rice women enjoyed measurable success with several first-place victories in categories which included the 5,000-meter run, distance medley, triple jump and shot put. Michelle Truesdale's victory in the 5,000-meter run came with a time of 18:07.20 minutes, 15.37 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Sheila Madigan's time of 18:46.60 minutes put her in fourth place.
Cherita Howard jumped 12.46 meters to win the crown in the triple jump, and the women's distance medley squad ran for a time of 12:14.60 minutes for the victory, 6.88 seconds ahead of second-place Texas.
In the shot put competition, Tammy McCallum claimed the gold with a distance of 14.10 meters. Trisha Harris was right behind her with a distance of 13.48 meters to finish second.
TaNisha Mills threw for 11.96 meters to place fifth.
Margaret Fox and Mills both placed in the 60-meter dash. Fox's time of 7.57 seconds gave her a seventh-place finish, while Mills placed eighth with a time of 7.59. In the 3,000-meter run, Heather Howard placed fifth with a time of 10:35.43 minutes.
A number of Rice women finished strongly in the 400-meter run, as Chaundra Frank led the team with a time of 59.47 for ninth place. Tracy Buettner had a time of 1:02 minutes for a 13th-place finish, and Parrish Hirasaki finished 14th with a time of 1:03 minutes.
Rosita Hogan placed ninth in the long jump, jumping for a distance of 5.46 meters, while McCallum brought home a silver in the weight throw event with a distance of 12.06 meters, .27 meters behind the first-place winner from Houston. Shaquandra Roberson finished fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.72 seconds.
What can Rice expect from its track and field teams in the coming year?
"I think we can challenge for [the conference]," Davidson said. "We've got to keep everybody fighting."
This item appeared in the Sports section of the January 24, 1997 issue.
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