Temple University Athletics
TRACK TEAMS TO COMPETE AT ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIPS ON SATURDAY
5.6.05 | Women's Track and Field
RICHMOND, VA - The Temple men's and women's track teams will travel to Richmond for Saturday's Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Owls will be looking to improve upon their seventh (men) and eighth place (women) finishes from a year ago. Seniors Jonathan Albright, Rachel Clinton and Jessica Dunston are among the favorites in the 110m and 400m hurdles.
Rhode Island seeks an A-10-record fifth consecutive title on the men's side after winning last year's Championship by a margin of 104.5 points over runner-up La Salle (247.0-142.5). The Rams' bid at making history will be contested by Duquesne, Fordham, La Salle, Massachusetts, Richmond, Saint Joseph's, Temple, and Xavier.
The Championship will feature several student-athletes who have achieved NCAA provisional qualifying status this season, including Andre Reid of Rhode Island in the shot put (60-1) and La Salle's Ryan Fennelly in the 5,000m (13:59.84), while freshman Sean Quigley of La Salle registered an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 10,000m (28:59.12). A two-time recipient of the Championship's Most Outstanding Field Performer Award, Reid established a meet record in the shot put in 2004 with a throw of 56-2.
On the women's side, Rhode Island looks to extend its streak of A-10 titles to four after totaling 187.5 points last year en route to winning the crown. Richmond, which has finished in the runner-up position the past two years, will be joined by two-time champion Massachusetts (1999, 2001), Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, La Salle, Saint Joseph's, Temple, and Xavier in its quest for the crown.
The 10,000m race could be the most highly-contested in the nine-year history of the Championship as a trio of A-10 performers have provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship in Rhode Island's Heidi Westerling (34:23.32), Jenna Darcy of La Salle (34:35.91) and Richmond's Amanda Russell (35:07.09). In addition, Saint Joseph's junior Andria Smythe looks to defend her 2004 record-setting win in the 100m dash (11.78).
The first day of the 2005 Championship, which marks the inaugural year of competition for Xavier in men's and women's outdoor track & field, will begin at 9:00am on Saturday, May 7 with the women's heptathlon. On Sunday, May 8, the men's decathlon begins the second day of competition at 8:45am.
