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April 1, 2005 > Sports > Individuals shine for Owls at UH invite

Individuals shine for Owls at UH invite

By Stephen Whitfield | Thresher Editorial Staff

Individual performances were again the highlight of the men’s track and field team’s performance, as three athletes finished in the top three of their respective events at the Tom Tellez Invitational March 25-26 at the University of Houston. Beginning today and continuing through tomorrow, the Owls will host the first of two home meets this season — the Hilton Houston Plaza Rice Bayou Classic — at the Rice Track/Soccer Stadium.

Most of the Rice athletes present will compete in their normal events, but junior Aaron Redman, who normally runs the 800 meters, will run in the 1,500 meters and the 400 meters instead.

‘It’s going to be tough, because I’ve rarely [run those two events] in the last four years,’ Redman said. ‘In the 800, I’ve got every bit of the race thought out … I know how I should feel and I’m not going to have that for these [races]. I think that’ll be a lot of it, just getting out there and racing without having preconceived ideas about how I should be feeling … I think it’ll be fun to do something different [to] make sure I’m not in a rut.’

Last weekend, junior Luke Stadel qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships — which take place May 27-28 in Norman, Okla. — in the discus with a throw of 166 feet, 1 inch. Stadel also provisionally qualified for the regional meet in the shot put at the TSU Relays March 19. On the first day of the Tom Tellez Invitational, Stadel finished second in the shot put, recording a mark of 53-6.5, but his regional qualifying discus throw was his only valid throw, as he fouled on his other five attempts. Stadel said he was pleased to qualify in the discus but was disappointed with his overall performance.

‘It’s kind of a relief for me, this early in the season, to get my regional mark,’ Stadel said. ‘Last year I missed it by three centimeters … early on, and it was on my back the whole season. I expect more, and I think we’ll see bigger things in upcoming weeks.’

Redman won the 800 meters in 1 minute, 53.89 seconds, just .57 seconds ahead of runner-up Alex Winstel from UH. Freshman Colby Keithan finished eighth among collegians in the same event — almost six seconds behind Redman — and fourth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:57.54.

‘Personally, it pretty much went the way I would hope,’ Redman said. ‘It was pretty windy, and for this early in the season, I couldn’t expect a really fast time. The goal was to just go out there and win it. I got out to a decent pace, kept myself in the race the whole time and finished strong. If I keep doing that, the [fast] times are going to come later in the year.’

Junior David Axel finished the 1,500 meters in 4:00.01, good enough for sixth place. Junior Leor Pantilat came in 10.98 seconds behind Axel, finishing ninth. Junior Eric Spear finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 48.72. Junior Jason Powell, fresh off his win in the triple jump last week, finished 14th in the long jump.

Two decathletes, freshman Tyler Whitham and junior Ryan Walsh, went to Baton Rouge, La. to compete in the LSU Relays. Whitham took fourth in his first career decathlon with 6,280 points, but Walsh injured his hamstring before he could participate in any events.

‘There [are] a lot of events I need to work on that I’m really struggling with — high jump and long jump, in particular — and the throws are holding me back,’ Whitham said. ‘But it’s getting good. We’re off to a good start.’

As a team, Rice totaled 35 points in the meet at UH, finishing a distant fifth place behind Texas A&M, which had 183 points.

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