Rice University Athletics
Owls Claim Two Relay Titles At The Drake Invitational
4/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Outdoor Track
April 28, 2001
DES MOINES, Iowa - The women's sprint medley relay and the 4x400 meter relay, along with long jumpers Alice Falaiye and Tommy Oleksy, claimed Drake Relay titles at the 92nd running of the Drake Relays at the Jim Duncan Track in Drake Stadium Saturday.
The Owls have never won a relay title at the Drake event, and they claimed two this year. The sprint medley relay crew of seniors LaKeisha Robertson, junior Keitha Moseley, sophomore Allison Beckford and junior Aimee Teteris finished the two 200 meters, one 400 meter, and one 800 meter in a time of 3:48.23. The quartet set a new Rice record earlier this year with a time of 3:47.17. The 4x400 group of senior Kelechi Anderson, Robertson, Teteris and Beckford came from behind late in the race, and improved their league-leading, and NCAA provisional time of 3:35.62, with a mark of 3:34.78. Beckford ran the anchor leg with a split of 51.9. Rice also ran in the 4x800 meter relay, and Elizabeth Ruckman, Shannon Murto, Tanya Wright and Summer Bell finished fourth with a time of 8:59.20.
Sophomore Alice Falaiye set an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 21-04 3/4 in her long jump win, the third best leap in NCAA Division I this season. Falaiye owns the WAC record with a mark of 21-09, and is the defending indoor and outdoor conference champion. The Brampton, Ontario, Canada native placed third at this year's NCAA indoor championship.
Also competing strong for the Owls was Erin Brand. The junior finished the 1,500 meters in a time of 4:32.33, a sixth place finish, and the fourth best WAC mark this season. Moseley, the reigning 100 meter hurdle WAC champion, and the conference leader, placed sixth with a mark of 13.80. Susanna Kallur of Illinois shattered the best mark in the world set earlier this year by teammate Perdita Felicien, with a mark of 12.81.
Tommy Oleksy, a sophomore from Nederland, claimed the men's long jump title last night with a leap of 25-09 1/4, the second-best mark in the conference this season. Oleksy placed fourth at the NCAA indoor championships earlier this spring, garnering all-America honors.
Senior Rashad Stafford, a DeSoto native, placed sixth in the 110 meter hurdles with a mark of 14.38. Stafford currently ranks second in the conference with a mark of 13.95.
Junior Keith Pierce crossed the line seventh in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:52.99, while freshman Adam Davis ran the 800 meters in a time of 1:50.71 in a second place finish.
Rice returns to the track May 10 when they run in the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station. The Owls have next weekend off for finals.
