Jimoh breaks school record in pentathlon
The women’s track and field team had a successful meet at the Houston Indoor Invitational last Friday at the University of Houston, winning all of the distance events while also turning in strong performances in the field events.
The Owls travel to Seattle, Wash. this weekend to compete in the Husky Classic Saturday. Dempsey Indoor Stadium at the University of Washington is known for having one of the best indoor tracks in the nation. Head coach Jim Bevan said he is looking forward to both the new venue and competition.
“Three of the last four weeks we’ve seen similar teams,” Bevan said. “It’ll be good to get out and compete against fresh faces.”
Rice will be rested going into the Husky Classic and will be ready to take advantage of the facilities known for faster times. Senior Flo Nwagwu said the Owls are going to be focusing on their individual goals.
“As long as I can keep my game intact and make sure that I’m doing what I need to regardless of which teams show up, I know how I perform and how I compete,” Nwagwu said.
At the Houston Invitational, senior Funmi Jimoh won the pentathlon with 3,937 points, more than 200 better than UH’s Rachel Easley. Jimoh trailed Easley going into the final event, the 800 meters, but finished fourth in the race with a time of 2 minutes, 30.12 seconds, well ahead of Easley and good enough for a victory. Jimoh bested the school record in the pentathlon, previously held by Ruthann Gairdner (Will Rice ‘04), by 61 points, all with just seven days’ rest instead of the standard two to three weeks.
Friday marked just the second time Jimoh has ever competed in a pentathlon — she placed third with 3,625 points at the Zia Classic Multis Jan. 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Jimoh may not compete in the event at the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 24-25, but she has provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March with her performance at UH.
Jimoh, who was named the C-USA women’s track and field athlete of the week for her efforts, said she can still improve.
“I’m happy with how I did last week,” she said. “But I definitely feel, given the chance, that I could have an even better performance.”
The distance runners were similarly dominant, continuing a season-long trend. Senior Kate Gorry ran the 5,000 in 17 minutes, 28.58 seconds, placing first and setting the meet record. Junior Leah McKay finished second in the event with a time of 19:44.16.
Sophomore Marissa Daniels won the 3,000 in 9:47.07, and the Owls also took four of the top six spots in the mile. Sophomore Callie Wells placed first in 4:54.25, senior Anna Reeve followed in second place in 5:03.69, sophomore Lennie Waite finished fourth and junior Brandi Armstrong took sixth.
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