Thursday, Jan. 30, 1997

Trackwomen continue to improve performance

By BILL BELINA
Collegian Sports Writer

Consistency. Improvement. Lifetime best.

These are words often heard spoken by Lady Lion track coach Teri Jordan when she discusses her team's indoor season that began Jan. 11 at Rutgers.

Some standouts from that meet were Shakeema Walker in the triple jump, Joetta Dweh in the 800 meters, Tiffany Glenn in the 55 meters and Kim McGreevy in the 3,000 meters.

These names consistently have been appearing at the top of the results list, and more are added to it following each meet.

Collegian story on Trackwomen's 1/18 meet against Georgetown

Take for example the Georgetown meet at the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex on Jan. 18, when the team faced a national power in the Hoyas. They soundly defeated them, 109-31. More impressive performances were turned in by Mary Jo Faust in the shot put, Felicia Cooksey in the high jump and pentathlon, Donna Comrie in the 55 and 200 meters and Erica Bosler in the 600 meters.

Despite all the standouts, one question remained. Could the team and its athletes fare well at the national level, when a large group of highly regarded programs compete?

At Saturday's Boston Terrier Classic at Boston University, the Lady Lions responded with a resounding yes.

The team tied for 13th overall in the competition that boasted representatives from about 200 schools. Again, many of the previous standouts were on top, but more and more athletes continue to pitch in.

"It was an exceptional meet for us," said Jordan.

Cooksey placed fourth in the long jump, and Walker finished fifth in the triple jump. The distance medley relay team of Erin St. John, Susanne Heyer, McGreevy and Bosler turned in its second NCAA qualifying time of 11:22.27. Melissa Uglow also turned in a collegiate lifetime best performance in the shot put with a throw of 44 feet, 2.75 inches.

"We've all made a lot of progress," Bosler said. "The whole team really did well."

The Lady Lions will have a chance to continue their forward momentum this weekend at the Patriot Games at George Mason University. Jordan said there will be many quality schools represented, namely Pittsburgh, Villanova and Maryland.

She also said it would be a chance to see "the total team competing, and being together for a while, before the Big Ten championships," on Feb. 22 and 23.

Bosler sees the meet as important and as a "pretty competitive meet." She also added that Jordan could be looking over this meet to prepare for the following meet, next weekend at Butler University. That meet will be the last chance for the team to achieve qualifying times for the Big Ten championships.

At the pace the team is currently on, it could be well represented at Big Tens.