Sunday, April 8, 2001

[ TRACK AND FIELD ]

---

GARY KAZANJIAN / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Hawaii's Olivia Smoody cleared 5 feet, 6 inches in the high jump yesterday
on one of her attempts at the Fresno Relays. The Wahine track team
returned to competition for the first time in 15 years.

Wahine start season
with 3 winners

---

Star-Bulletin staff

FRESNO >> Fresno was cold, rainy, windy and was even bombarded by hail. Standing water had to be squeegeed off the track.

But the University of Hawaii Wahine track team enjoyed itself thoroughly at the Bob Mathias Fresno Relays.

In the first outing in the rebirth of the UH track program, the Wahine won three events, including 1-2 finishes in the high jump and 3,000-meter run.

"It was really a historical thing," said coach Carmyn James. "I was most impressed with everyone's performance. They really rose to the occasion."

James noted that all 16 members of the team contributed to improvement of preliminary seed times recorded before the team's first meet in 15 years. "Some people had a personal best (improvement) of over one minute in the distance events," she said.

UH started by going 1-2 in the meet's first event, the high jump. Sarah McDiarmid set her third school record since the renaissance of the program by winning with a jump of 5 feet, 8 inches. Olivia Smoody was second for the Wahine at 5-6.

The Wahine went 1-2 again in the 3,000 meters. Cheryl Smith won the event by about 200 meters, cruising home in 9 minutes 53.69 seconds. Teammate Casey McGuire-Turcotte finished second, and then won a dramatic dogfight to also take home the crown in the 1,500.

"And then she anchored our 4x4 team," James said.

James said that the wins were particularly impressive, because her goal going into the meet was just to get the Wahine used to a competing under meet conditions.

"We weren't really able to simulate it in Honolulu," she said. "For a lot of people this was their first time going to the mainland for a meet. My big concern as a coach was that everyone could stay focused."

The Wahine return to Fresno for the Western Athletic Conference Championships in May.

"When we come back it won't be a surprise," James said.

---

TRACK AND FIELD

Fresno relays

Women
At Warmerdam Field

400 Meter Dash--1. Jynette Grayson-Reed 55.42, FSU. 2. Akuvai Hine 57.10, Cal Poly. 3. Amber Taylor 57.91, Cal. Also: 10. Diane Kohara 1:01.60, UH. 11. Carolyn Berger 1:02.24, UH. 14. Shayne Enright 1:05.74, UH.

800 Meter Run--1. Jasmine Hall 2:14.30, Cal Poly. 2. Brianna Denley 2:17.45, FSU. 3. Stacy Esquivel 2:18.97, FSU. Also: 5. Jennifer Crumley 2:33.25, UH. 6. Teryn Bentley 2:33.88, UH.

1,500 meter run--1. Casey McGuire-Turcotte 4:4.83, UH. 2. Kathryn Schlegel 4:42.70, Cal Poly. 3. Kara June 4:48.38, FSU. 4. Cheryl Smith 4:49.98, UH. Also: 9. Courtney Barlow 5:08.75, UH. 11. Teryn Bentley 5:13.62, UH. 12. Jennifer Crumley 5:14.06, UH. 13. Brittany Keith 5:14.12, UH.

3,000 yard run--1. Cheryl Smith 9:53.69, UH. 2. Casey McGuire-Turcotte 10:14.94, UH. 3. Olga Guitierrez 10:30.22, FSU. 4. Courtney Barlow 10:39.21, UH. Also: 8. Brittany Keith 11:08.49, UH.

4x100 meter relay--1. FSU 47.21. 2. California Davis 48.17. 3. Cal Poly 49.24. Also: 5. UH 51.92.

High jump--1. Sarah McDiarmid 5'08.00", UH. 2. Olivia Smoody 5'06.00", UH. 3. Kaitlyn Bourgeois 5'04.25", Cal Poly.

Pole vault--1. Ardin Harrison 12'09.00", Sky Athletics. 2. Brooke Lankard 12'09.00", FSU. 3. Bergann Hernandez 11'05.75", FSU. Also: 7. Kimberly Higa 10'06.00", UH.

---

UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii