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Rice Signs Four for 2006
12/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Dec. 13, 2005
Houston -
The Rice women's track and field team signed Houston's Nicole Mericle and Brittany Washington, DeSoto's Eunique Hamilton and College Station's Vicki Walker to national letters of intent for fall 2006, head coach Jim Bevan announced Tuesday.
"We are really excited to add four very talented student-athletes to the Rice family," Bevan said. "Each one of them has the potential to score points right away in Conference USA, and these four are a good indication of the direction our program is headed."
Mericle swept Texas state private school cross country titles for the John Cooper School in The Woodlands, winning the TAPPS gold as a freshman and sophomore and the SPC title as a junior and this fall as a senior. She also captured gold in track and field, winning the 800 and 1600 at the SPC championships in April. Her 2:12.58 clocking in the 800 was ten seconds faster than the runner-up, and her margin of victory in the 1600 was more than 19 seconds.
"Nicole is a very versatile athlete," Bevan said. "She will help us immediately in cross country, and her track times are impressive. Training with our Rice team will help her develop into one of the conference's top runners."
Washington is one of the top 400-meter runners in Texas, placing second for Fort Bend Hightower in the 5A state meet in 2004 with a time of 54.65. She also anchored her Track Houston club team to USA Track & Field national Junior Olympics gold in the young women's 4x400 in July.
"We have a long tradition of outstanding 400 runners at Rice," said Bevan. "Brittany will help continue that tradition. She has not only the high school experience we look for, but also the summer youth meet experience that is good preparation for the collegiate season."
Hamilton has excelled on the track in the 400, and on the field in the triple jump for DeSoto. She ran second leg on the school's fourth-place 4x400 at the 5A girls state meet in May, and recorded one of the longest wind-aided triple jumps in the nation at 39-10 in April. Hamilton was third in the triple jump at the Region I-5A meet, where she also helped her team to gold in the 4x400 and a fifth-place finish in the 4x200.
"The great thing about Eunique is her ability to help us on the track and in the field events," said Bevan. "She has a lot of untapped potential and has the tools to be a very good collegiate triple jumper, as well as challenging for a spot on our relays."
Walker placed fourth in the 5A girls 400 for A&M Consolidated at the state meet in May with a 56.60, and helped her squad to a fourth-place finish in the 4x100 and a fifth-place effort in the 4x400 as the school took third in the final point standings.
"Vicki is another exciting addition to our sprint squad," Bevan said. "She has extensive state meet experience in the open events and on the relays, and she will hopefully be able to come in and challenge for a spot on both relays right away."