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January 23, 2004 > Sports > Young women’s track team ready for season

Young women’s track team ready for season

By Dylan Hedrick | Thresher Editorial Staff

Much like the men’s team, the women’s track and field team will be without its star runners for the indoor season. Because the Owls will be without seniors Allison Beckford and Tanya Wright until the outdoor season begins March 19, the Owls will have to rely on other talent for another title.

“I wouldn’t say that we have the weakest team [in the Western Athletic Conference], but we don’t have Beckford and Wright [who have exhausted their indoor track eligibility],” women’s track and field head coach Victor Lopez said. “The team is very young, and there’s some talent there that we expect to come through.”

Most of the talent on the team this year will come from Rice’s sprinting corps, which earned 64 points in the indoor meet last year.

Senior Keia Watkins and junior Yvonne Umeh will lead the young squad through their experience from last year’s indoor championships. Watkins finished fifth in the 400-meter run, and Umeh finished fifth in the 200-meter dash and seventh in the 60-meter dash.

Sophomore Nina Mayes, who placed first in the 60-meter dash, returns, and sophomore Funmi Jimoh, who took fourth in the 60-meter hurdles and tied for fourth in the high jump, will also be back.

“I think we are going to be pretty good if everyone stays healthy,” Jimoh said. “Everyone has high hopes. We need to win indoor after coming off of last year [’s second place finish in the WAC indoor championships].”

The distance crew will also be strong again this year with the return of sophomore Kate Gorry, 2002 WAC cross country freshman of the year. Seniors Whitney McAlpine and Shannon Murto enter their final season, and sophomore Megan Sandler, who placed second in the mile in the indoor championships, will return.

“[The sprinters and the distance runners] are the nucleus of the team,” Lopez said. “They are all looking very good and are in very good shape.”

Senior Ruthann Gairdner, who contributed eight points to the team with her second place heptathlon finish, has been nursing a sore Achilles tendon recently, but Lopez believes that she should be better in a week.

For Rice to recapture the title, the incoming freshmen must make an immediate impact in the team points total. Lopez is expecting big results from Rice’s top recruit Lindsay Wilson, who is expected to compete in the 400-meter dash and the high jump.

“We have a bunch of freshman, and we’ll see how they come through making the transition from high school to college,” Lopez said. “They don’t have a whole lot of experience, but the talent is there, so it’s a matter of developing it. We’re expecting a lot from Lindsay Wilson, but she’s a little behind in training.”

Rice’s pole-vaulting squad is led by returning seniors Beth Hinshaw-Spearman and Ally Daum, who placed third and seventh, respectively, at the conference meet. The pair is joined by junior Erica Derrickson, a transfer from Georgetown.

“Beth and Ally are looking very good,” Lopez said. ” [Derrickson] is looking very good, and we should get a lot of points in that event. In the high jumps, we have a bunch of people doing multiple events, so it’s a matter of them making the transition.”

In the WAC, Rice will be up against a strong University of Nevada team that won the indoor championship before placing second to Rice in the outdoor meet.

“The expectations as a whole are not going to be like in the past, where we have an edge winning the championship,” Lopez said. ” Louisiana Tech runs very well, and Nevada’s always very strong. Fresno [State] always has a good team, and UTEP and SMU are always producing top places. We’re going to have to have a good team effort to try to win the conference.”

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