Wave Track Teams Ready for C-USA Championships
May 8, 2002 | Track & Field
May 8, 2002
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University outdoor track and field teams will challenge for the 2002 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Louisville, Ky.
Action opens on Thursday with the first four events of the women's heptathlon and the first five events of the men's decathlon, with the championship teams, Freshman and Athlete of the Year announcements made following the final event Saturday.
The Green Wave has 12 entries in the men's championship and 17 on the women's side. In the last three years, the Tulane women have won two league titles and finished second once. The Green Wave men had their best-ever finish in 2000, when they earned second place. This will be the last meet for Green Wave head coach Ron Bazil, who is retiring after seven years at the helm of the program. During his tenure with the Wave, Bazil has coached 64 individual and 12 relay champions in Conference USA action.
Tulane's men have many top seeded competitors for this weekend's events. Senior Solomon Kandie (Nairobi, Kenya) has earned Athlete of the Year honors in each of the last two years at the C-USA Outdoor Championship. This year, he is the top seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the No. 2 runner in the 1,500-meter run (Finals, 3:22 p.m., Saturday). He will also compete in the 5,000-meter run, a race he won last year.
The top seed in the 1,500-meter run, which Kandie won two seasons ago, is freshman teammate Phillip Aagaard (Linkoping, Sweden). Aagaard has the second-best time in C-USA in the 800-meter run (Prelims, 6:15 p.m., Friday) this season, behind only senior teammate Clement Abai (Port Moresby, New Guinea). The third-best time in the league this year in the 800 was turned in by Kandie, who will not compete in that event during this weekend's championship. Second to Kandie in the steeplechase is Tulane freshman Erik Emilsson (Bjarred, Sweden).
Another championship contender for the Green Wave men is sophomore Joshua Johnson, who is ranked second in the triple jump (Finals, 1 p.m., Saturday).
For the Tulane women, freshmen Jelena Jurlina (Zadar, Croatia) and Helmi Leppanen (Kerava, Finland) will contend in multiple throwing events. Jurlina is seeded second in the discus throw (Finals, 5 p.m., Friday) and third in the javelin (Finals, 1 p.m., Friday), while Leppanen is the No. 2 qualifier in the javelin. Leppanen will also compete in the heptathlon, where she is seeded fourth.
Senior Asha James (Pickering, Ontario) has the third-best time this season in the 200 (Prelims, 7 p.m., Friday), while sophomore Carlyne Pradieu (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is fourth in the 800 (Prelims, 5:55 p.m., Friday).
Full results will be available by visiting www.c-usasports.com. Tulane results will be available at www.TulaneGreenWave.com at the end of each day.
Players Mentioned
