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The Rice Thresher
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by Chris Larson thresher editorial staff
Seven individuals affiliated with Rice will make the trip down under, including three track and field athletes. Margaret Fox, a 2000 Rice graduate, will represent Canada in the 1,600-meter relay. Fox was a member of Rice's 1997 NCAA champion 1,600 relay team, running the third leg in 53.6 seconds. Andrea Blackett, a 1997 alumna, will compete for Barbados in the 400-meter hurdles and Kareem Streete-Thompson, who earned all-American honors at Rice from 1991-'95, will long jump for the Cayman Islands. Additionally, two former Rice athletes will go to Sydney to compete in the coxless eight-member rowing competition. Heather McDermitt, who captured a silver medal in Atlanta's 1996 Olympics, will represent Canada. McDermitt ran middle-distance track races for Rice until she graduated in 1989. Torrey Folk will compete in the same event for the U.S. team. Folk entered Rice as a freshman track and field athlete in 1992 before transferring to the University of Wisconsin in 1994 to row at the NCAA Division I level. Rice's crew club was her first exposure to rowing. "She was bitten by the sport from the beginning, despite the rather primitive setup the club had at the time," former Rice crew coach Hannes Hofer said. "We practiced on a small creek, and coaching was done from a single-person shell because motor boats were not allowed." Additionally, the Rice coaching staff will be well represented in Sydney. Assistant track and field coach Wen Yang, who works with Rice's jumpers, will make the trip to Sydney as a personal coach for Streete-Thompson. Finally, head women's track and field coach Victor Lopez will head the Puerto Rican track and field delegation. Lopez guided each of the three women's track athletes through their running careers at Rice. "It gives you the chills, thinking of them all the way back to when they were freshmen at Rice," Lopez said. "It's one more example of the type of athletes we produce. It shows the quality of our program." Lopez and his athletes departed Monday for training camp in Brisbane, Australia. "We're going to Brisbane to adapt to the time zone and weather and make final tune-up adjustments," Lopez said. The Puerto Rican track and field team has never captured a medal in Olympic competition. The nation's best finishes in history are a fourth place in pole vault and a finalist in javelin. This year, Puerto Rican athletes met the Olympic qualifying standards in three events: men's 400-meter relay, women's 1,600-meter relay and men's shot put. While he cannot realistically forecast an end to the medal drought in Sydney, Lopez is confident the Games will provide countless benefits to his athletes. "We plan to represent our country with dignity and honor," he said. "Hopefully we can break some national records. The team is young, so expecting to get to the finals would be unrealistic, but it's part of their development for the future." Some Rice-connected athletes, however, are expected to figure prominently in the medal hunt. Streete-Thompson captured both the NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump titles while at Rice and has been ranked as high as second in the world. His personal-best jump of 28 feet, 3 3/4 inches coupled with a time of 9.96 seconds in the 100-meter run makes him the only man other than Carl Lewis to jump over 28 feet and break 10 seconds in the 100. Blackett set the national record for her native Barbados in the 400 hurdles and placed second in the NCAA outdoor championships in 1997. Blackett continues to train with Lopez and went with him to training camp in Brisbane. "Both Andrea and Kareem should be fighting for medals," Lopez said. McDermitt hopes to build on her silver medal performance in Atlanta, and Folk has a legitimate chance to stand on the podium as well. Folk captured a silver medal in the World Championships in both 1998 and '99. Lopez has represented Puerto Rico in various capacities, from sprinting on the national team in Central American and Caribbean meets to delegate and team leader. This will be his first head coaching experience. Lopez said that no matter how the athletes fare in competition, they will take the opportunity to interact with elite international athletes. "The significant experience is the opportunity to live for two to three weeks with athletes, delegates and coaches from over 200 countries around the world," he said. "The exchange of cultures and the enhancing of sociocultural development are priceless."
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