Wells, Jimoh win at Husky Classic
After a strong showing at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash. last Saturday, the women’s track and field team is now preparing for Conference USA indoor meet, to be held Feb. 23-25 at the University of Houston.
The C-USA indoor meet will feature tough competition, but based on their times and marks so far, the Owls should be competitive. Although she is still recovering from an Achilles injury, senior Nina Mayes has the fourth-best 60-meter time in the conference, only seven hundredths of a second behind the conference-leading mark.
Senior Funmi Jimoh has the conference’s best long jump and the third-best time in the 60-meter hurdles. Sophomore Callie Wells and senior Anna Reeve have the second- and third-best mile times, respectively, and in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, the Owls have four of the top seven in C-USA. Sophomore Rachel Greff, who currently has the top pole vault height in the conference, said the team will be ready when the meet begins.
“It will be good for our bodies to get some rest this weekend,” Greff said. “The [Seattle] meet was good because it was a really big meet with really big competition, … so it prepares you for other meets like conference where you have to get mentally prepared [as well].”
The Owls are riding a wave of confidence after 11 runners set personal bests at the Husky Classic. Wells qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9 minutes, 25.24 seconds. Jimoh also qualified for the national meet, jumping 20 feet, 3 inches in the long jump. Both Wells and Jimoh placed first among collegians in their respective events.
Rice’s first three meets were all held at the University of Houston, and head coach Jim Bevan said he attributes the Owls’ improved performance to the change of venue.
“It was our fourth meet, and we’re starting to come around,” Bevan said. “I think it was good to get away from Houston. … Sometimes you get a little more excited when it’s special, when you get in a different facility against different competition.”
Other top performers in Seattle included sophomore Desarie Walwyn, who finished third among collegians in the 60 meters in 7.52 and fourth in the 200 meters in 24.64, and senior Flo Nwagwu, who took sixth-place in the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 7 inches.
The team’s distance runners also had a successful weekend. Reeve finished 18th with a 4:57.27 mile and senior Sarah Yoder placed 10th in the 5,000 in 16:45.51. She was followed closely by sophomore Marissa Daniels’ 14th-place time of 17:17.43.
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