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The Rice Thresher
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by RYAN KEEDY THRESHER STAFF
College Station was not all bad news, however, as Rice's jumpers took advantage of the typically favorable winds at the Texas A&M Invitational to turn in some solid marks. For the men, freshman Tommy Olesky caught the most air, finishing second in the long jump and fifth in the triple jump. Sophomore Todd LeBlanc edged out Olesky with a fourth place finish in the triple jump. "I was pleased with my effort in the long jump at A&M," Olesky said. "I jumped well after a hard week of practice. My triple jump left something to be desired, but I will be ready to jump well by the conference meet. I should be able to put out a qualifying long jump at the conference meet, if not before." Also going to the air was sophomore Jessica Sommerfeld, who took first place in the shot put and second in the discus. Neither throw qualified her for the NCAA Championships, but she is getting closer and hopes to be present when the nation's top collegiate athletes take the field for the national meet at the end of May. "I am feeling really good about my throws at A&M," Sommerfeld said. "My goals for the season are to become the school record holder in the discus and continue on to the NCAAs. I am not sure how I will do there, but I would like to put up a good fight. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain." Sommerfeld said she also enjoys hurling other heavy and dangerous objects in the air and plans to eventually compete in all four of the outdoor throwing events. "I also do the javelin and the hammer," Sommerfeld said. "I cannot wait to be healthy enough to throw all four of them. I figure in about two weeks I will be able to throw the hammer for the first time. I was thinking about opening up with the javelin this weekend, but I might move that to a meet a couple of weeks from now." On the other side of the country, freshman Alice Falaiye continued to impress with her long jumps. She won the event and tied the school record with a jump of 21-1 1/4, equaling the mark set by Cherita Howard in 1996. "Actually, I wasn't having a good meet so I was quite surprised by the marks I was able to get," Falaiye said. "Even though I ended up winning, I wasn't satisfied with my performance. I didn't jump as well as I wanted to." She is not being overly optimistic, either. At the Texas Relays earlier this month, Falaiye notched a jump of 21-3 1/2 that would have broken the record if not for excessive winds. Nevertheless, her most recent record nicely compliments the mark she set earlier this year during indoor competition. "I don't really think about it because I know it is small in comparison to what I want, which is to make the necessary standards for the Olympics," Falaiye said. The women's 1,600-meter relay team also competed the Mount SAC Relays and continued to shine. The squad finished second to a team composed of Olympians, but its time of 3 minutes, 34.89 seconds still ranks third in the nation. The men's and women's teams will join forces this weekend as both teams head to Fort Worth to compete in tomorrow's TCU Invitational. "The TCU meet is one more meet to work on things and to give a chance to people to run different events," women's head coach Victor Lopez said. "We will take it relaxed. The following week, we have the Penn Relays. ... Hopefully we can run [well] in that famous meet." - back - |
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