Men’s track prepares for another outdoor run

By Stephen Whitfield | Thresher Editorial Staff

With nine successful seasons in the Western Athletic Conference behind them, the men’s track and field team will aim for an impressive debut season in the more competitive Conference USA.

Among the notable teams in the re-aligned conference are the University of Texas-El Paso and the University of Houston. UTEP, a fellow ex-WAC member which won the conference indoor and outdoor titles last year by a combined 73 points, returns Mickael Hanany, the runner-up in the high jump at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships last June. The Cougars have won the last three C-USA outdoor titles and sent four individuals and a relay team to the national meet last year.

Head coach Jon Warren (Jones ‘88) said he thinks Rice can equal or better its third-place finish in last year’s WAC outdoor meet in its new conference.

“I think we can be in the hunt to be in the top three [in outdoor] again if we have a full, well-rounded team,” Warren said. “If UTEP is on — they won over half of the events in outdoor last year — then they [will be] phenomenal, but other than that I think [C-USA] is pretty open.”

Rice begins its indoor season today with the Leonard Hilton Memorial, a day-long meet at the University of Houston. The Owls will send 15 athletes to the meet, although most of them will not participate in their usual events. Warren said the Hilton Memorial will serve as a warm-up meet for the team.

“We just want people to get used to running again,” Warren said. “[For] most people, since it’s a Friday meet, training’s more important. The [C-USA] outdoor meet is in May, and we’re in January, so if you start tapering for all of these early indoor meets, you’re going to kill yourself. … We’re training through this meet.”

After today, the Owls will compete in three indoor meets before the C-USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at UH Feb. 24. Despite posting three second-place finishes and a third-place finish in nine WAC indoor meets, Rice will focus primarily on the outdoor season, which begins March 24 with the TSU Relays. Warren said the short amount of time leading up to the C-USA Indoor Championships prevents the Owls from competing heavily in indoor events.

“If you … don’t start competing prior to Christmas, it’s difficult to get a lot of meets in,” Warren said. “We’re going to go into [the indoor season] trying to get all the work set up for [personal records] and national qualifiers or great conference performances without forgetting that [the] outdoor [season] is really what we consider track and field.”

Rice lost only four seniors: Seth Neumiller, Leor Pantilat, Aaron Redman and Ben Wiggins. If the Owls are to have success similar to last year, they will need significant contributions from the current senior class. David Axel, Marcel Hewamudalige, and Luke Stadel qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional outdoor meet last season in the steeplechase, shot put and 5,000 meters, respectively, and Ryan Walsh won the decathlon at the WAC Outdoor Championships.

Stadel, who ranks third all-time at Rice in the shot put, said he has improved since last season.

“I’ve gotten stronger and faster this year,” Stadel said. “I feel like I’ve got more power, and I’m able to translate that power into athletic strength. Technique is something I should improve on, so I think I should improve on all facets of my throwing abilities this year.”

Other returning regional qualifiers include Hampton, a transfer from the University of Texas who qualified in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and sophomore Omar Wright, who qualified in the high jump last year despite missing almost the entire season due to an ankle injury. Senior Jason Powell and junior Devon Fanfair finished second and third, respectively, in the triple jump at the WAC title meet.

January 20, 2006

The Student Newspaper of Rice University

Men’s track prepares for another outdoor run

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