Manhattan Trip Opens 2012 Track Season
1/12/2012 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Jan. 12, 2012
TULSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa track and field teams will begin the 2012 indoor season Jan. 14 at the Kansas State Invitational in Manhattan, Kan. The event will take place at Ahearn Field House on the campus of the Wildcats.
Both the TU men and women are coming off 2011 campaigns where they finished second in Conference USA.
O'HARE FINISHES SECOND AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS, EARNS ALL-AMERICAN STATUS
Chris O'Hare finished second in the Mile run at the 2011 Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 12 in College Station, Texas at the Rhonda & Frosty Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. He ran a time of 3:59.62 in the championship race, finishing .13 seconds behind national champion Miles Batty of BYU. In the preliminary race on March 11, O'Hare and Batty posted identical times, but O'Hare crossed the finish line first and won the qualifying race with a time of 4:00.87. O'Hare was named an All-American for his second-place finish, joining senior Mark Davidson (Mile, 2009) as the only two male indoor All-Americans in school history. O'Hare also won two event titles at the Conference USA Championships and was named the C-USA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
SCHOOL RECORDS FALL THROUGHOUT 2011 INDOOR CAMPAIGN
Four school records were broken in 2011, which included sophomore sensation Chris O'Hare who ran a mile time of 3:56.48 at the Tyson Invitational. O'Hare also broke the school record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:24.20 at the J.D. Martin Invitational. At the C-USA Championships, both senior Brianna Steel and sophomore Alex Sementelli broke school records in the pentathlon and heptathlon, respectively. Steel won the pentathlon with 3,784, and Sementelli posted a fifth-place finish with 4,773 points. Sementelli also posted the third-best mark in the Shot Put (11.31m). Senior Paula Whiting ran the second-fastest time in three separate events, which included the 1,000 meters (2:51.67), the Mile (4:46.93) and the 3,000 meters (9:19.01). Junior Carl Stones ran the third-fastest time in the 5,000 meters at the Conference USA Championships (14:27.56). Junior Tom Marshall recorded the third-fastest mile at the Arkansas Last Chance (4:00.74).
GOLDEN HURRICANE MEN FINISH SECOND AT 2011 CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP
Tulsa finished second at the 2011 C-USA Indoor Championships with 107 points, which was the exact same number the Golden Hurricane posted in 2010's second-place effort. Both marks were the highest finish in school history. Houston won the team championship with 172 points, Memphis finished third with 89.5 points and East Carolina claimed fourth with 86 points. UTEP (82), Rice (76.5) and Southern Miss (44) rounded out the men's competition. Tulsa claimed four individual titles, with two going to the sensational sophomore Chris O'Hare. He defended his title in the mile and also set the C-USA meet record with a victory in the 800 meters (1:51.06). O'Hare won the mile in 4:07.13, and senior teammate Justin Duncan finished second. The duo went 1-2 in the event for the second-straight year. Junior Tom Marshall captured the gold in the 3,000 meters in 8:16.24, holding off a fierce late charge from UTEP's Justice Chirchir. The Golden Hurricane bested the Miner by just .75 seconds. Tulsa's DMR team of Marshall, Julian Frazier, Bill Martin and Dennis Hodapp claimed gold in 10:08.74.
GOLDEN HURRICANE WOMEN FINISH SECOND AT 2011 CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP
The TU women set a school record by finishing second at the 2011 Conference USA Championship. The women's title was won by UCF with 123.5 points, Tulsa finished second with 76 points, UTEP finished third (72) and SMU landed in fourth (69). East Carolina (65), Southern Miss (57), Houston (51), Rice (33), Memphis (31), Tulane (31), UAB (28) and Marshall (26.5) claimed the remaining spots. Tulsa brought home three individual titles, with two going to senior Paula Whiting, who won both the mile and the 3,000m. Brianna Steel won the pentathlon with a school-record 3,784 points.
Players Mentioned
