ULV tunes up in Fullerton meet
Campus Times
March 20, 1998
There are many steps to ensure team success, as well as individual success
in track and field. At the end of a season when the final league standings
are printed, and first through last place are shown, it is there where a
team may measure and decide what meaning the season may have had.
One of the preparatory steps men's and women's track and field teams
are takin in hopes of enhancing their league success is to take part in
invitationals.
"The good thing about invitationals is that you get to see who
is good for what events, because in practice you see what athletes run but
you never know what they can run when it comes down to competition,"
said assistant coach Gil Gomez.
For one who is unfamiliar with the dynamics of an invitational, it is
a meet in which all NCAA divisions, as well as many unattached competitors,
compete against one another.
For the Leopards, it is a chance to tune up for league competition for
the athletes and also a chance for the coaches to sort out their personnel.
"If you want to be the best, you have to compete against the best,
and it gives our athletes the opportunity to have some tougher opponents
to do just that," said Gomez.
One of the most recent invitationals took place Saturday when the Leopards
traveled to Cal State Fullerton to compete in the Benny Brown Invitational.
Competing amongst a field of well over 20 teams and countless unattached
competitors La Verne fared well as they put another chance to prepare for
league.
Some of the top performances of the day for the women's teams included
the likes of senior sprinter/jumper, Patrina Hall whose time of 11.4 in
the 100m dash was good enough for a sixth place finish out of more than
30 sprinters.
In the field events, sophomore Katie Holmes managed a toss of 119'11"
to capture a sixth place in the final of the women's discuss.
The final in the women's shot put featured a second place finish for
sophomore Rhiannon Jensen (39.03') and right behind her was senior Eboni
White who captured fourth (37.03'). Freshman Jamie Lawerence also fared
well in the pole vault, clearing 10.0' to capture fourth place.
The noted performances of the day for the men's team included freshman
Kyle Young, with a time of 51.50 in the 400m dash, placing him in a ninth
place finish. A top 10 finish was junior LaVelle Wilson, clocking a 57.28
in the 400m intermediate hurdles.
In the final of the men's 4x100m relay the Leopards earned one of their
better times of the year, at 43.85 earning a top ten finish as well.
"The invitationals I feel help us a lot for the season because
we race and compete a lot of faster schools that we would in SCIAC,"
said junior sprinter Ordell Williams.
