 Billikens Set for A-10 Track and Field Championships
May 1, 2008
What's on Tap: Saint Louis will participate in its second Atlantic 10 Conference Track and Field Championships this weekend at The Track & Field Complex on the campus of the University of Massachusetts May 3-4. The action, which will be streamed live on www.atlantic10.com, begins at 7:45 a.m. (CT) both days. About the Billikens: Saint Louis, which showed steady improvement during its cross country and indoor track and field seasons, features one of the most complete outdoor track and field rosters in school history. For the first time, the women's program is entering student-athletes in the shot put, discus, high jump and long jump. On the men's side, the Billikens have a pole vaulter for the first time as well as entries in the discus, shot put and hammer throw. Last Time Out: Participating in their final tuneup before the A-10 Championships, the Billikens traveled to nearby Edwardsville, Ill., to partake in the SIUE Twilight. Austin Critchlow lowered his school-record time in the 800 meters after taking first with a time of 3:56.65. Steve Vargas also finished first and broke the school record in the 1,500 meters with a mark of 1:53.92. On the women's side, Tiffany Alexander surpassed the school standard in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.39 to finish seventh overall. In addition, Anna Alexandrov raised the school record in the shot put with a mark of 10.61 meters. Also turning in a good performance was Molly Burke, who finished first in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:42.91. Junior Qualifier: At the WU Invitational earlier this season, Saint Louis freshman Brian Holdmeyer completed the 10,000 meters in 32:06.96 to qualify for the USA Track and Field Junior Championships. The meet takes place June 20-22 at Ohio State. Holdmeyer will compete in the 10,000 meters again at the A-10 Championships and attempt to get as close to the 31:00 mark as possible, which will qualify him for the world junior championships. He is the first Billiken ever to qualify for the meet and is expected to be one of several competitors from the A-10 competing in the event.
Record Breakers: On the women's side, Saint Louis has broken 14 school records this season out of 18 total events, while the men have surpassed 11 school records. A pair of freshmen lead the squads with three school records each, as they are participating in events for the first time in school history. Tiffany Alexander is the school-record holder in three events (100-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash), while Justin Kwasa has three school marks on the men's side (discus, shot put and hammer throw). Head Coach Jon Bell: Bell is in his first season as head cross country/track and field coach. During the cross country season, he helped the Billikens to arguably their best season in recent history. School records fell on both the men's and women's side, and SLU climbed to as high as fifth (women) and eighth (men) in the Atlantic 10's weekly coaches polls. During the indoor campaign, the Billikens again improved throughout the season while placing a league-high five student-athletes on the Academic All-Conference team. Assisting Bell are Tim Bradley, John Cunningham, Gavin Kennedy and Autumn Valk. In the A-10: Several Billikens have posted marks that rank among the top 15 in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season. Laura Coyer's school-record time of 4:36.34 in the 1,500 meters is the fourth-fastest time in the league this season, and she also posted top-15 times in the 5,000 (17:39.34, 10th) and the 800 (2:16.77, 11th). Maddie O'Quinn has the seventh-fastest time in the A-10 at 800 meters (2:16.06), and her top time in the 400 meters (57.89) ranks 11th. Roxanne Rodenborn's time of 1:08.23 in the 400-meter hurdles in 15th overall in the A-10. On the men's side, Austin Critchlow holds the fifth-fastest time in the league at 800 meters (1:53.93), while David Whelan is seventh in the 100 meters (11.09). Matt Alexander's time of 48.94 in the 400 meters is the eighth-best time in the conference. Quotable: "We are prepared and ready to do well at the conference meet," head coach Jon Bell said. "The fact that we are able to cover the majority of the events is an indication we are moving in the right direction. I anticipate this meet will act as a springboard for our summer training." |
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