Tulane Women Shine at Purple Tiger Invitational

Saturday, January 26

Baton Rouge, La.

TBA

Tulane University

LSU Invitational

Tulane Women Shine at Purple Tiger Invitational

Jan 26, 2002 | Track & Field

Jan. 26, 2002

BATON ROUGE - Katrina Gemmell and Anthony Lagat took third places in the women's 3,000-meter and men's 5,000-meter run, respectively, on Saturday, to lead a strong contingent of Green Wave performers at the first indoor track meet of the 2002 season, the LSU Purple Tiger Invitational in Baton Rouge.

Gemmell, a senior from Palmerston North, New Zealand, ran a 9:58.97 in the 3,000 while Lagat's (Eldama-Ravine, Kenya) time in the men's 5,000 was 15:19.04 as they recorded the top placings by Green Wave runners.

But it was a pair of Tulane newcomers who broke indoor school records in the pole vault and shot put. Freshman Ellen Vollmers (Orono, Maine), vaulted 9-6 ? to establish a new Green Wave record in that event, obliterating the previous mark of 8-0 ? set by Nadia Smith in 1999. In the shot put, Finland's Helmi Leppanen (Kerava, Finland), similarly destroyed Tracy Harris' eight-year-old school record as Leppanen threw the shot 48-7 ?, well past Harris' 44-10 mark. Vollmers finished ninth in the pole vault while Leppanen's throw was good for fifth.

Senior Asha James (Pickering, Ontario) placed seventh in the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.61 to tie the second-best time in Tulane history. James owns five of the top six marks in the event all-time. Fellow veteran Sheena Garwood (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also garnered a top-10 finish, taking sixth in the 800-meters in a time of 2:20.36. Another newcomer, Moji Alade (Bakersfield, Calif.), rounded out the Green Wave top 10s with a 50-10 mark in the weight throw, good for a sixth place finish.

On the men's side, Lagat's performance by far paced the Tulane men. Sophomore Josh Johnson (Cola, S.C.), long jumped 22-3 to place 11th, Adam Leskis (Spokane, Wash.) was 12th in the men's open 3,000 in a time of 9:36.99 and freshman Joakim Daun (Klintehamn, Sweden) was 15th in the open 800 in a time of 1:57.76.

The Tulane men's and women's track and field teams are next in action next Friday and Saturday (Feb. 1-2) at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.

Tulane Women
60 Meters
Asha James, 7.61 (7th place, Finals)
Asha James, 7.69 (8th place, Prelims)
Angel Dooley, 7.71 (13th place, Finals)
Angel Dooley, 7.75 (13th place, Prelims)
Tahira Wiggins, 8.07 (42nd place, Prelims)

200 Meters
Angel Dooley, 25.58 (13th place)
Tahira Wiggins, 26.29 (24th place)

800 Meters
Sheena Garwood, 2:20.36 (6th place)

One Mile
Lyndie Galka, 5:17.05 (11th place)
Carlyne Pradieu, 5:25.44 (12th place)

3,000 Meters
Katrina Gemmell, 9:58.97 (3rd place)

60 Meter Hurdles
Camilla Hatlen, 9:26 (22nd place)

Triple Jump
Aisha Otori, 11.28m, 37-00.25 (22nd place)

Pole Vault
Ellen Vollmers, 2.90m, 9-06.25 (10th place)

Shot Put
Helmi Leppanen, 14.81m, 48-07.25 (5th place)
Jelena Jurlina, 12.23m, 40-01.50 (18th place)
Moji Alade, 11.59m, 38-00.25 (27th place)

Weight Throw
Moji Alade, 15.49m, 50-10.00 (6th place)

Tulane Men
60 Meters
Alex Lakhanpal, 7.31 (76th place)

200 Meters
Alex Lakhanpal, 23.31 (32nd place)

800 Meters
Joakim Daun, 1:57.76 (15th place)