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The Rice Thresher
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by MARCO PASSERI THRESHER STAFF
The Owls, led by sophomore Keitha Moseley and senior Shaquandra Roberson, quite literally ran away from their competition en route to the team title at last weekend's WAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Rice topped the WAC field with 163 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Southern Methodist University's 98. The University of Texas at El Paso (90), Fresno State University (76), the University of Tulsa (57) and Texas Christian University (39) rounded out the field. The Owls were likely the favorites heading into the meet, but even head coach Victor Lopez was surprised with their margin of victory. "I didn't think it would be that overwhelming," Lopez told the Houston Chronicle. "But the girls just came through in a fashion that we had only been dreaming about." While Moseley and Roberson grabbed most of the attention as the Owls' top scorers, Lopez said the victory was a total team effort. "This group of student-athletes is perhaps the best as a whole that I have been associated with at Rice, and I have been here for 21 years," said Lopez, who was named the WAC Coach of the Year. "In my years here I had great teams and individuals, but as a whole this is the best team." Moseley was at the head of the class for Rice after winning two gold medals and a silver to claim the meet's High Point Award. She won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.67 seconds and finished second in the high jump with a leap of 1.69 meters. Most impressive, however, was her conference title in the pentathlon. Moseley won the 60-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump on her way to 3,570 points - all as a first-time competitor in the five-event gauntlet. "She's still only a sophomore and she is just starting to develop," Lopez said. Roberson, who helped lead the women's cross country team to the WAC Championship last semester, set meet records in the mile and 3,000-meter runs to win two gold medals. She finished the mile in 4 minutes, 46.99 seconds and the 3,000 in 9:45.84. Freshman Allison Beckford, who won the 400-meter run in 54.33 seconds, was named the WAC Freshman of the Year. Beckford was also a member of Rice's distance medley relay team, which won the race in 12:03.11. Roberson, senior Kari Vigerstol and freshman Tanya Wright rounded out the squad. Lopez said the team has developed a closeness that was critical to its championship hopes. "It has been my philosophy ... that we need to be a tight group that loves each other like sisters," Lopez said. "They are very talented and very smart and that is a luxury that I have as a head coach. When you are mentally and physically together, the sky is the limit. They are finally getting to that level where they feel that they are as good as anyone else in the nation." Jessica Sommerfeld, a sophomore, defeated SMU's Lianne Coombewon with a throw of 14.33 meters to win the shot put despite being at less than full strength. "It's great to win the conference meet," Sommerfeld said. "I hurt my hand last week, so it was tough today to throw my best, but I knew I had to throw as good as I could to beat the SMU thrower." Freshman Alice Falaiye was another first-time winner after taking the gold in the long jump with a leap of 6.34 meters. "I felt really good about my last jump," Falaiye said. "It was nice to get a win in my first conference meet." Lopez said that Rice's five individual conference champions weren't the only athletes who deserved credit for the team victory. "Everybody did a great job, including the ones that did not make the finals," Lopez said. "These few people kept warming up with the ones that made the finals like they were going to compete also. That gave a lot of confidence and inspiration to their teammates." Lopez isn't about to let the team rest on its laurels despite the conference championship. He will send various athletes to meets across the country in preparation for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held March 10-11 in Fayetteville, Ark. The 1,600-meter relay team, ranked 12th in the nation, ran at the Florida Last Chance Meet in Gainesville, Fla., yesterday and the distance medley squad will compete at Notre Dame University today. Roberson, Wright, sophomore Aimee Teteris and senior Margaret Fox will also compete in individual events at Notre Dame tomorrow, while Sommerfeld will compete at the University of Wyoming today and at the University of Colorado tomorrow.
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