Rice will have a bit of a split squad this weekend, with almost everyone from both teams headed to Nacogdoches for the Skechers Carl Kight Invitational, hosted, of course, by SFA.

One former Owl distance runner and three current ones are headed to Stanford for the Stanford Invitational. It is at this meet, as well as the upcoming ones at Mt. SAC (Los Angeles) and the second Stanford meet, which will set the fastest times in everything from the 1500 meters all the way up to the 10,000 meters.

3,000 Meter Steeplechase

Lennie Waite will be in Heat 1 of 3 (the first heat of any of these races will include the fastest runners, based on current times). Lennie needs to run a reasonably fast time, so as to convince Scotland to include her on their steeplechase team for this summer's Commonwealth Games.

Heather Olson will be in Heat 3. This will be her first steeplechase of the season, and she has been getting stronger each meet. She is a fifth-year senior, so this is a critical race.

5,000 Meters

Cali Roper was only able to get into Heat 4 of 5 because she has not gone for a fast time so far this season. I hope someone goes out fast, so that she will be able to pop a good one. She is a redshirt freshman.

Katie Jensen will be in Heat 5, but I think that will be good for her. After an indoor season that did not go as well as expected, the talented true freshman looked very solid last Friday night in the 1,500 meters at the Victor Lopez Classic.

I'm trying to get start times and other information (possible webcast). I will post those as soon as I find out.

Other information:

NOTE: ALL OF THESE RACES ARE ON FRIDAY, APRIL 4

Women's 5,000 Meters

12:22 pm CDT Heat 5 - Katie Jensen

1:00 pm CDT Heat 4 - Cali Roper

Women's Steeplechase

7:00 pm CDT Heat 3 - Heather Olson

7:30 pm CDT Heat 1 - Lennie Waite



WEBCAST INFORMATION - SUBSCRIPTION ONLY

(04-03-2014 10:44 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  NOTE: ALL OF THESE RACES ARE ON FRIDAY, APRIL 4

Women's 5,000 Meters

12:22 pm CDT Heat 5 - Katie Jensen
1:00 pm CDT Heat 4 - Cali Roper

Women's Steeplechase

7:00 pm CDT Heat 3 - Heather Olson
7:30 pm CDT Heat 1 - Lennie Waite

Thanks for the times, Russell. I was hoping that the Owls would be running after 5:45 (local time), so I could see them after work. But that's not possible now. Good luck & run fast, Owls!!

Here's a link to the PDF of the entire meet schedule: http://www.gostanford.com/pdf9/2671172.pdf ... and the URL for live results: http://www.rtspt.com/events/stanford/inv...index1.htm

From 5,000 meters, HEAT 5

Event 85 Women 5000 Meter Run Section 5
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Teghan Henderson UT-Chattanooga 16:13.03
2 Samantha Draney Adidas Team Green 16:31.69
3 Shanoah Souza SMU 16:39.75
4 Katie Jensen Rice 16:41.80
5 Melanie Stemper SMU 16:44.86
6 Jacy Christiansen Liberty 16:45.99
7 Aly Nielson Oregon St 16:50.86
8 Rachel Bush Cal Poly 16:53.98
9 Frances Loeb Johns Hopkins 16:54.32
10 Sally Larson Lipscomb 16:55.05
11 Connor Ward Texas 16:55.06
12 Kelli Sugimoto Loyola Marymount 16:55.90
13 Vanessa Valentine Vanderbilt 16:58.73
14 Hannah Everson Air Force 17:05.91
15 Chelsea Sumney UNC-Greensboro 17:19.80
16 Brittnie Munoz Loyola Marymount 17:44.36
17 Meghan Breadmore Cal Poly 18:18.09

Again, please realize that all of this will change, but after that race, Katie Jensen is #1 in C-USA in the 5,000 meters. I'm sure that when I get the results of Heat 4, that will all change (Cali Roper) ...

Cali Roper sets a Rice freshman record in finishing 2nd in Heat 4 (16:24.55). Yea!

Heather Olson finished 7th in Heat 3, with a solid time of 10:30.53.

It appears that Rice University is totally and forever out of the sprints. Do we make any attempt at all to recruit this anymore? I know we do field a 1600 meter relay team, but seems it's been ages since we've had anyone compete in anything shorter than 800 meters, including hurdles.

Results of Heat 1 (fast section) of the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase:



Stanford Invitational - 4/4/2014 to 4/5/2014 Stanford University -Stanford, California
Event 78 Women 3000 Meter Steeplechase Section 1
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Lennie Waite Unattached 9:48.17
2 Rachel Johnson Baylor 9:49.31
3 Sarah Pease Adidas/Rogue AC 9:55.35
4 Megan Rolland Oiselle 9:58.41
5 Alicia Nelson Adams State 9:59.83
6 Alexa Aragon Notre Dame 10:14.29
7 Kerry O'Flaherty Ireland 10:14.33
8 Emma Dahl Arkansas-Lit 10:15.20
9 Martina Tresch KState 10:16.08
10 Kristen Zillmer Illinois State 10:18.81
11 Katie Moraczewski Minnesota 10:19.51
12 Liberty Miller Washington 10:25.44
13 Kelly McShea Illinois State 10:27.79
14 Kate Kujawa Oklahoma State 10:55.53
15 Caroline Austin Unattached 11:04.36
-- Sarah Benson Unattached DNF

Even though Lennie still is not in peak form, this very good time should be enough for Scotland's federation.

Here are the results from earlier races:



Stanford Invitational - 4/4/2014 to 4/5/2014 Stanford University -Stanford, California
Event 84 Women 5000 Meter Run Section 4
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Margo Richardson Saint Louis 16:20.27
2 Cali Roper Rice 16:24.55
3 Grace Graham-Zamudio Loyola Marymount 16:26.08
4 Dani Walker Lipscomb 16:30.55
5 Merel van Steenbergen Portland 16:31.37
6 Jess Watychowicz Wis.-Parkside 16:38.65
7 Gintare Zenkeviciute Oklahoma State 16:39.21
8 Holly Page Wyoming 16:39.22
9 Madelin Talbert Lipscomb 16:39.88
10 Sydney Stuenkel Loyola (Ill.) 16:41.38
11 Kaylee Flanagan Washington 16:42.90
12 Carrie Jube BYU 16:44.54
13 Lindsey Nielson BYU 16:44.95
14 Megan Siebert Texas 17:00.67
15 Carmen Carlos Vanderbilt 17:00.92
16 Janelle Martinez Oklahoma State 17:01.15
17 Taylor McDowell Iowa State 17:02.26
18 Gina Paletta Portland 17:04.12
19 Jane Ricardi Club Northwest 17:07.33
20 Megan Morgan Washington 17:18.18
21 Brianna Johnson Indiana 17:27.75
22 Kylie Nishisaka Cal Poly 18:08.64


Event 80 Women 3000 Meter Steeplechase Section 3
===============================================================
Name Year School Finals
===============================================================
Finals
1 Tansey Lystad Portland 10:15.83
2 Kelli Budd Minnesota 10:17.50
3 Blair Doney Purdue 10:18.01
4 Tova Magnusson SMU 10:23.85
5 Demerey Kirsch Nevada 10:28.57
6 Kelsey Bruce Dallas Baptist 10:30.19
7 Heather Olson Rice 10:30.53
8 Tereza Novotna Elon 10:33.40
9 Amira Joseph Vanderbilt 10:34.66
10 Brianna Castrogivanni Sacred Heart 10:41.67
11 Kaila Urick Minnesota 10:51.15
12 Corey Dowe Cornell 10:52.74
13 Lucy Young Northeastern 10:57.13
14 Rebecca Chandler Vanderbilt 11:07.82
-- Danielle Katz Stanford DNF

(04-04-2014 09:09 PM)Barney Wrote:  It appears that Rice University is totally and forever out of the sprints. Do we make any attempt at all to recruit this anymore? I know we do field a 1600 meter relay team, but seems it's been ages since we've had anyone compete in anything shorter than 800 meters, including hurdles.

Sophomore Filip Drozdowski is a talented sprint hurdler from Poland. His best time in the 110 meter hurdles (14.34) ranks him 4th in C-USA this season.

Junior Tyneisha McCoy is 6th in C-USA in the 100 meters (11.89) and 4th in the 400 meters (55.09).

Freshman Eboni Sutherland is 8th in C-USA in the 200 meters (24.63).

The fact is that the most talented sprinter on campus is Donte' Moore, who has yet to make an appearance for the Rice track team. I think he could be one of the best in the country in the 400 meters.

Here are some highlights from the Carl Kight Invitational at SFA:

(Also, please understand that many of our top athletes did not compete, such as Daisy Ding, Claire Uke, McKenzie Johnson, Chris Pillow, Ben Pressley, or Justin Gross)

Women's 200 Meters

2. Tyneisha McCoy 24.51

McCoy moves to #9 in C-USA.

Women's 800 Meters

4. Ellen Diemert 2:16.60
6. Brooke Johnson 2:18.25

Diemert is now #11 in C-USA, while Johnson moves up to #14.

Women's 1500 Meters

1. Allie Schaich 4:36.56
2. Ellen Diemert 4:37.50

Schaich already was #6, while Diemert is now #9.

Men's 800 Meters

3. William Roberts 1:53.73

W. Roberts is now #12 in C-USA.

Men's 5,000 Meters

4. Adam Davidson 14:56.58
5. Will Firth 14:57.26

Interestingly, Davidson stays at #8 in C-USA because his improvement was from 14:56.86 to 14:56.58. Weird to improve by 0.28 of a second in a 3.1 mile race. Firth was already #5 in C-USA, due to earlier race results.

Men's 3,000 Meter Steeplechase

1. Wyatt Doop 9:12.16
4. Travis Roberts 9:26.24
5. Griffin Lee 9:27.79

Doop jumps to #3 in the conference, T. Roberts is up to #7, and Lee is now #9.

RESULTS

(04-03-2014 10:34 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  
It is at this [Stanford] meet, as well as the upcoming ones at Mt. SAC (Los Angeles) and the second Stanford meet, which will set the fastest times in everything from the 1500 meters all the way up to the 10,000 meters.

In terms of the NCAA list for 2014, the Stanford Invitational produced 5 of the top 10 times in the women's 1500 meters; the top 8 times in the women's 5,000 meters (and 17 of the top 20); the top 27 times in the 10,000 meters (and 43 of the top 46); and the best time in the women's steeplechase, and 12 of the top 17.

Cali Roper is #42 on the NCAA national list in the 5,000 meters, while Katie Jensen is #83. Heather Olson is #44 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Tacking on here, because this could go to the heart of many of these meets. Curious what some of the more insider types (in the track and field world) feel about the potential changes that Steve Magness goes on to rail against. What he says seems to make sense to me.

http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2014/04/...-team.html

Somewhat interestingly, he's the head cross country coach at UH, but that's not why I follow his blog.

I'm not an insider anymore, but I suspect his perceptions are colored by spending most of his career in Texas, where big invitationals dominate the schedule. I grew up running dual meets in high school and much prefer that set up to the giant invitationals. An entire meet is completed in a single afternoon and the team competition does add an enjoyable element to the proceedings. It's one thing to support your teammates at a big invitational, but it's much more intense when there is a team championship on the line. And I think people do develop an appreciation for the other events in a team setting. I'll never forget the sight of our 6'-9" 330 lbs shot putter jumping up and down at the start of the homestretch during the mile relays. I also think he is vastly overstating how difficult it is to keep track of the team score--a single person scoring with a PA system can keep everyone informed. If high schools in the backwoods or Oregon can figure out how to do it, I don't see any reason why colleges wouldn't be able to do the same. The only thing better than a close meet coming down to the mile relay is one coming down to the final put of the shot (thanks Kod).

Keeping post-collegians out makes no sense. I agree that it's good for the college athletes and helps draw in fans as well. Allowing them to compete as unattached in dual meets can help address the problems with teams that lack depth in certain events. Going to a triangular meet (three teams, each competing head-to-head) helps with that as well.

Of course, I doubt going back to a dual meet system will save track, but I don't think it will be as dire as he suggests.