April 18, 2001 SEATTLE--Divide and conquer will be the mantra of the Washington track teams this weekend. Fifteen athletes will trek to Walnut, California for the three-day long Mt. SAC Relays event which begins Friday, while the remainder of the team will compete at the Pelluer Invitational in Cheney, Wash., on Friday. The majority of the Husky squad will face off against Eastern Washington, Montana, Portland State and Portland in a series of dual meets for both men and women at the 30th-annual . The meet will allow the UW teams a chance to qualify more individuals for the Pac-10 championships, which take place in four weeks, as well as take on some Northwest rivals in dual meet fashion. The Huskies are in need of some strong dual meet performances as they carry a 0-4 dual meet record into the weekend. The task at hand will not be easy as the Huskies will have to do it without standouts Ja'Warren Hooker, David Bazzi, Anna Aoki, Kate Bradshaw and more who will be competing against some of the nation's best at the Mt. SAC Relays in California. Fifteen Washington athletes including all eight NCAA qualifiers, will compete in the three-day meet in Walnut, California at Mt. San Antonio College. Results from the Eastern Washington meet will be available on the web at http://athletics.ewu.edu. Results from the Mt. SAC relays will available daily on http://vm.mtsac.edu/relays. Prospective Competitors at Mt. SAC Relays 200m: Ja'Warren Hooker 400m: Ja'Warren Hooker 1500m: Dustin Duke Steeplechase: Mike Hill 5,000m: David Bazzi, Jason Fayant Triple jump: Marcus Kelly High jump: Sean Steele Pole vault: Brad Walker Women 200m: Chelsie Pentz 5000m: Anna Aoki, Kate Bradshaw, Gillian Palmer 400m Hurdles: Kelsey Sheppard Javelin: Megan Spriestersbach, Heather Reichmann On the Road to the NCAAs The Zen of Bazzi Senior David Bazzi (Seattle, Wash./O'Dea) shattered the Washington school record in the 10,000-meter run, recording an automatic qualifying time of 28:34.54 at the Stanford Invitational March 31. The time currently ranks him in the No. 3 spot on the NCAA best list. Bazzi competed in the 5,000-meter run at the 2000 NCAAs. The Distance Duo Sophomore Kate Bradshaw (Issaquah, Wash.) and senior Anna Aoki (Vancouver, Wash.) both reached the automatic qualifying mark in the 10,000-meter run at the Stanford Invite March 31. Bradshaw ran a 33:35.51, which ranks fourth on the NCAA best list, while Aoki's time of 34:04.77 ranks her eighth overall in the event. Both women have also earned provisional marks in the 5,000-meter run. Aoki surpassed the standard with a time of 16:36.19 at the Cal Quad meet, March 17. Bradshaw, the first Husky to qualify for the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships, reached the provisional mark in the 5,000 with a time of 16:38.97 at the Washington Outdoor Preview, March 3 in Seattle. Aoki is currently 17th overall in the 5,000 on the NCAA best list, while Bradshaw is just behind at 18th. The Need for Speed Senior Ja'Warren Hooker (Ellensburg, Wash.), an eight-time All-America, clocked provisional times in both the 100 (10.33) and 200-meter dashes (20.57) in his first outdoor outing of the 2001 campaign at the Cal Quad Meet March 17. He then improved his 100-meter mark to 10.27 at the Stanford Invitational, March 31. His 200-meter time ranks him fourth on the NCAA best list, while his 100-meter mark ranks 15th overall. (TCU's Kim Collins leads the nation in both the 100 and 200 with times of 9.99 and 20.44 respectively.) A Circle of Hurdles Junior Kelsey Sheppard (Kirkland, Wash.) ranks eighth on the NCAA best list after recording a provisional qualifying mark of 58.76 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Stanford Invite, April 1. Sheppard competed in the 400 hurdles at the 2000 NCAA championships. Going the Distance Junior Jason Fayant (Spokane, Wash.) clocked a provisional qualifying mark of 14:02.12 in the 5,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational March 31. His time ranks sixth on the NCAA best list. Airing It Out Sophomore Megan Spriestersbach (Lakewood, Wash.) bettered her season-best mark by more than five feet en route to a provisional qualifying throw in the javelin competition at the Stanford meet March 31. Spriestersbach's throw ranks her 10th on the current NCAA best list. Going Higher Sophomore Brad Walker (Spokane, Wash.), who earned All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor meet March 10, reached the provisional mark in the pole vault, clearing his career-best height of 17-4 1/2 at the Cal Quad, March 17. The mark ranks Walker tied for 11th on the NCAA best list. |
