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Track Teams Prepare for WAC Indoor Championships
2/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Feb. 20, 2002
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa Track squads are making final preparations for the 2002 Western Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Reno, Nevada. The event is going to be held in the Reno Livestock Events Center, Thursday, Feb. 21 through Saturday, Feb. 23. On the men's side, the seven WAC schools participating will be Boise State, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa. For the women, Boise State, Fresno State, Louisiana Tech, host Nevada, Rice, SMU, UTEP and Tulsa will be looking for the championship.
Sophomore Shana Robinson, last season's WAC Freshman of the Year, currently owns the conference's top times for the 55-meter dash (6.99) and 60-meter dash (7.45), both of which are school records as well. Her school record time of 24.16 in the 200-meter dash ranks second in the conference.
Freshman Nataile Rasmussen also owns the top time for the 5,000-meter run at 17:33.66. The next runner is nearly: 40 behind at 18:10.23. In all, the TU women have 12 times in the top-five of their events. In addition to Robinson's and Rasmussen's times, junior Jamese James owns the fifth best time (8.46) for the 55-meter hurdles and the third best time (8.89) for the 60-meters. James also has the fourth best time (55.50) in the conference for the 400-meter dash.
Junior Monica Joannes provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships for the 800-meter run with a school record time of 2:09.15, which also ranks third in the WAC.
Senior Debbie Cardenas and junior Sarah Haskins team up to record the third and fourth best times in the WAC for the 3,000-meter run, respectively. Cardenas clocked a 10:08.32, while Haskins was timed at 10:09.57.
All three of the women's relay teams are among the top three in the event. The 4x400-meter relay squad of Paula Richardson, Alisha Burnett, Joannes and James provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with a time of 3:39.76. That time currently ranks second in the WAC. The mile relay team also ranks second in the conference with a time of 3:35.24, while the distance medley relay ranks third with a time of 12:30.88.
At one point this season, junior Adrian Young owned the top time for the men's 200-meter dash. He currently ranks fourth with a time of 21.86. Young's time is one of seven times by TU runners in the top-five of their event. In addition to the seven runners, the TU men also have a pair of high jumpers in the top-five.
Junior Branon Vaughn owns the men's best ranking with the second best time in the 55-meter hurdles (8.29). Freshman Jamal Bogle ranks fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.63, just ahead of Vaughn's seventh place time of 8.68. Fellow junior Jared Christianson recorded the second best time for the 1,000-meter run at 2:33.2.
Like the women, all three of the men's relay teams are ranked in the top-five of the conference. The 4x400-meter relay team ranks fourth with a time of 3:16.69, while the distance medley relay squad ranks fifth with a time of 10:23.81. The mile relay team was the only squad to post a team, 3:30.25.
Freshman Heston King and sophomore Jason Krueger are tied at the fourth position in the high jump, as both men have identical 2.06m (6'9") jumps.
