Adding to the Total
Feb 5, 2002 | Track & Field
Feb. 5, 2002
A perennial challenger for Conference USA titles and national recognition, a pair of seniors will lead the Tulane University men's and women's track and field teams into the 2001 indoor and outdoor seasons. For the men, All-American Solomon Kandie (Nairobi, Kenya) is expected to continue to be a dominating presence in the distance events, while the Green Wave women will look to three-time conference champion Katrina Gemmell to anchor their bid for another league title.
"Solomon and Katrina are proven winners for this program," Tulane head coach Ron Bazil said. "Solomon has incredible potential and Katrina is running as well as she has since arriving here. We will count on both of them to lead this program and set examples for what is shaping up to be a pair of young teams on the track."
The Wave women return six scorers from last year's indoor and outdoor championships, while the men have seven athletes back who recorded points in 2001. However, both teams will rely heavily on newcomers to maintain the level established by past Green Wave standouts.
GREEN WAVE WOMEN
"For our women's program, the goal ultimately is to win the Conference USA Indoor Championship and to retain our outdoor title," Bazil said. "We lost certain key people from last year, but we have talented people coming back and a good group of recruits."
Leading Tulane's quest for the "double" championships, which it accomplished in 1999, will be Gemmell.
"Over a four-year career, Gemmell has been as solid as anyone we have had," Bazil said of the New Zealand native. "She has won conference championships every year that she has been healthy."
Gemmell won the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500 last year in Conference USA. She also helped the distance-medley relay team to a top finish indoors and placed third in the 800 and eighth in the 5,000 on the outdoor track, showing her impressive versatility.
With Gemmell anchoring the middle-distance corps, that group should be among the best in the nation this year. Sophomore Eva Lustigova (Liberec, Czech Republic) had a very impressive debut season in cross country, capturing Louisiana Newcomer of the Year honors.
"Another person who has great credentials is Eva Lustigova," Bazil pointed out. "She can run the 800, the mile and the 3,000. She has the ability to help us make up some of the points we lost to graduation."
Another senior and a pair of Brooklyn sophomores will also be counted on to contribute scoring this year. Senior Lyndie Galka (Fort Stewart, Ga.) and sophomores Sheena Garwood (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Carlyne Pradieu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) have all shown the ability to compete at the league level. Pradieu and Galka both scored in the indoor 800 last year, while Galka added a leg for Tulane's winning DMR team.
Freshmen Megan Whelton (New Orleans, La.) and Shelby King (Boulder, Colo.) will also look to make contributions as they adjust to collegiate running. Whelton was a two-time state champion in the two-mile run for Newman High School, while King was a four-time state qualifier in cross country in Colorado.
Tulane posted strong showings in the sprints last year, but will have just one experienced sprinter in 2002. A potential high-scorer for the Wave, senior Asha James (Pickering, Ontario), took third place in the 200-meter dash both indoors and outdoors, last year.
"Asha is a senior and she has been a consistent star in Conference USA the last couple of years," Bazil said. "She is being looked upon to make a big impact this year at the conference meets."
Joining James in the sprints will be a group of freshmen who have converged on New Orleans from all over the country. Angel Dooley (Columbus, Ohio), Essence Kendrick (Inglewood, Calif.) and Tahira Wiggins (Yonkers, N.Y.) have all exhibited flashes of great potential.
Freshman newcomer Camilla Halten (Mosjoen, Norway) will be an immediate challenger in the hurdles, while potentially competing in the sprints and long jump as well.
A major question mark for the Green Wave will be the health of Theresa Maru (Kipkarren River, Kenya), the top distance runner at Tulane. Maru, who won the individual cross country title in 2000, has been slowed by injuries over the last year, including a broken leg suffered at last year's outdoor championship. Bazil is hoping to see Maru return to action this year, cautiously hoping for the end of the indoor schedule.
The key newcomers from Bazil's incoming recruiting class will make their impact in the jumps and throws, helping ease the loss of many key performers from last year.
In the jumps, Tulane lost the services of sophomore Jillian Green (Houston, Texas) due to injury. Last year, Green scored in both the long jump and triple jump as a freshman. Junior Aisha Otori (Lagos, Nigeria) has gained experience and will look to score in the long and triple jumps at this year's championships.
However, freshman Lissie Mo (Drammen, Norway) is expected to be a challenger for conference titles both indoors and outdoors. Mo has won the triple jump four years running at the Norwegian Junior Championships. She has also placed second twice in the long jump.
A trio of freshmen will compete for points in the throws this year. Mosi Alade (Bakersfield, Calif.), Jelena Jurlina (Zadar, Croatia) and Helmi Leppanen (Kerava, Finland) are all experienced athletes who will make an immediate impact for the Wave. Alade was a high school All-American in the discus and shot put after setting Highland High School records in both events. Jurlina is a top-rated junior performer in Europe in the shot put and discus, while Leppanen has competed for four years at the Finnish Championships. She won the shot put (in the 22 and under age category) last year with a throw of 14.31 meters.
Sophomore Kristine Urban (Opelousas, La.) also returns to the Wave after a strong debut season throwing the discus.
Freshman Meghan Greeley (Foxboro, Mass.) will throw the javelin for Tulane, while classmate and fellow New Englander Ellen Vollmers (Orono, Maine) will challenge in the pole vault. Greeley finished sixth at the New England Championships in the javelin, while Vollmers won the Maine State Championship in the pole vault.
"We have a group of freshmen women that it really depends on how much they mature," Bazil concluded. "We have three or four freshmen sprinters who are going to have to grow up and mature in a hurry. They are going to have to run like sophomores and juniors in order to provide us with the points we lost to graduation. I think our three freshmen in the throws will compete right away for points [at the conference championships]."
GREEN WAVE MEN
"Certainly the strength of the men's team is going to be the middle distance runners, the same three or four guys that led our cross country team," Bazil acknowledged. "We have an All-American in Solomon Kandie (outdoor steeplechase), and he has been on the bubble during the indoor. This should be his year to fulfill his potential."
Kandie has won back-to-back Conference USA Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year honors. Last year at the outdoor championship, he won both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000, while taking second in the 1,500. He went on to earn eighth-place at the NCAA Championships in the steeplechase. He had placed third in that event in 2000. On the indoor circuit, the veteran runner took third in the 3,000 and fourth in the mile at the conference meet.
Following Kandie, the heart of Tulane's middle-distance runners will be an extremely talented, yet inexperienced, trio of freshmen. All three, Phillip Aagard (Linkoping, Sweden), Joakim Daun (Klintehamn, Sweden) and Erik Emilsson (Bjarred, Sweden) competed for Sweden in the European Junior Championships.
"We're going to count on the freshmen that we recruited," Bazil said. "Each of those kids [Aagard, Emilsson, Daun] represented Sweden in the European Junior Championships. We just have to hope they make the adjustment to being freshmen in college. During the cross country season we have seen glimmers that they are making that kind of adjustment."
Aagard earned a pair of gold medals (1,500 and 800) at the 2000 Swedish National School Championships. Daun has twice won the 800 at the Swedish Youth Championships, while Emilsson earned all-district honors for Tulane in cross country this fall. He has represented the Swedish National Team in competition and advanced to the finals of the steeplechase at the European Junior Championships.
A pair of All-Louisiana and All-Conference USA selections in cross country will only add to the strength of Tulane's middle-distance attack. Senior Meshack Mulupi (Kilimambogo, Kenya) and junior Anthony Lagat (Eldama-Ravine, Kenya) both scored points for the Wave last year. Mulupi scored in the steeplechase and the distance-medley relay, while Lagat added points in the 5,000.
Junior Adam Leskis (Spokane, Wash.) and sophomore Ryan Gallagher (New Orleans, La.) were both contributors in cross country, while Leskis scored points last year in the DMR. Freshman Will Landry (New Iberia, La.) joins the Wave after an all-state career at the Episcopal School of Acadiana.
Senior Clement Abai (Port Moresby, New Guinea) is the other top performer for the Green Wave. Abai was the C-USA outdoor champion in the 800 in 2001.
"Clement Abai ran 1:48.91 in the 800 last year," Bazil said. "He should be at a point now where he is capable of achieving the NCAA standard."
Senior sprinter Alex Lakhanpal (Stockholm, Sweden) scored C-USA points for the Green Wave last year in the 200 meters and in the 4x400 relay during the Indoor Championship. He will again be the Wave's top sprinter. Freshman Jeremy Rose (Baton Rouge, La.) will also compete in the sprints after a solid track and football career at Redemptorist High School.
The biggest weakness for the Green Wave men will be the lack of depth and potential scorers in the field events. Sophomore Joshua Johnson (Cola, S.C.) surpassed 50 feet in the triple jump last year and earned points during the indoor championship.
"If Josh Johnson is healthy, he can help us," Bazil said. "Until he got injured last year he had a 50-foot triple jump, so he has the ability to challenge and provide points in conference."
Junior Grant Whittaker (Blue Bell, Pa.) and freshman Eric Hambidge (Mystic, Conn.) will both compete in the javelin. Hambidge earned second place in the javelin at the Massachusetts High School Championships.
With potentially dominating middle-distance runners, Tulane will be a threat at the Conference USA Championships. However, key performances will need to be turned in by the veteran runners, as well as the newcomers, in order for the Wave to challenge for a men's championship.
OVERVIEW
While the Green Wave suffered numerous key losses from last year's teams, Bazil has shown exceptional ability to build teams and success in New Orleans. Since taking over the reins of the Green Wave cross country and track and field programs, Bazil has guided Tulane to eight NCAA Championship appearances, not to mention developing numerous individual qualifiers to the NCAAs. Twelve times Tulane has had individuals honors earn All-America honors during Bazil's tenure, in addition, one Green Wave relay team received that prestigious distinction. Eighteen times in Bazil's seven years, Green Wave track and field and cross country teams have finished in the top three at the Conference USA Championships.
Players Mentioned
