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The Rice Thresher
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by Chris Larson thresher editorial staff Two men's track and field athletes went to Fayetteville, Ark. last weekend for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and came home all-Americans. Sophomore Tommy Oleksy gave his best effort of the season in the long jump, and all four of his jumps that weren't fouls were farther than his previous season-best. His jump of 25-10 3/4 put him in second place for most of the competition, but two athletes outjumped Oleksy's mark in the final round, including U.S. Olympian Walter Davis from Louisiana State University, and Oleksy finished fourth. He had entered the meet ranked 10th in the nation. "My big jump has been coming all year," Oleksy said. "It was just a matter of getting in the right meet and doing the right things. It pretty much all came together." The Tigers' Davis almost didn't even make it into the finals. Meets will often take only the top athletes into the final round, but this year officials decided to take nine - Davis had just the ninth-best jump heading into the final round. "I thought going into it having nine qualifiers would help me," Oleksy said. "But it turned out to be my downfall. Still, I expected to come in sixth at best." Rice's other representative at the national meet was freshman Adam Davis (no relation to Walter Davis) in the 800-meter run. He entered the meet with a season-best time of 1 minute, 48.06 seconds, which ranked him fourth nationally. Davis advanced to the finals by winning the first of three heats. As has been the case in almost all of Davis' races this season, the pack went out slowly so his heat's times were slow compared to the others. But the top two runners from each heat automatically qualify for the final, and Davis took off after 400 meters and won his heat handily. "Adam's prelim was very slow," assistant coach Jon Warren said. "With 400 to go he went from the pack to the lead, and cruised in to win his heat and qualify for the finals that way." In the final, Otukile Lekote of the University of South Carolina sprinted from the outset, and Davis went with him. Davis' 400-meter split was a blistering 50.2 seconds, a pace no collegiate athlete can really handle. Davis, whose second lap has been faster than his first in most races this year, ran the second lap in over 59 seconds to finish seventh in 1:49.51. "The finals was a different deal," Warren said. "[Lekote] tends to take races too hard, and I think Adam entered the race with the mindset of trying to win. His split was four seconds faster than it's been all year, and it got ugly." Still, seventh place at the national meet is quite a feat for a freshman - before Davis, Rice had never qualified a freshman for a distance event to the national meet. And Davis has three more years to make his mark. "To qualify a freshman to the national meet, have him make all-American and score points is phenomenal," Warren said. Davis gave the Owls two more points to give Rice a total of seven, which tied them for 35th. A year ago, Rice was held scoreless at the national meet. The Owls hope the momentum continues during the outdoor season, which begins next Friday, when they compete at the Texas Southern University relays. For the outdoor season, Rice will be able to run senior sprinter and hurdler Rashad Stafford, who had used up all four years of his indoor eligibility. Additionally, outdoor track includes the decathlon, an event sophomore Ryan Harlan should dominate. "We hope to get even more people to the national meet in outdoor season," Warren said. "Ryan Harlan can make it in the decathlon and Tommy and Adam should make it again. Rashad's best chance to get to nationals is in the 400 hurdles." As a team, the Owls are focused on the Western Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held May 17-19 in Fresno, Calif. Rice will be looking to improve on last year's fifth place team finish.
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