Gloria Asumnu Shines at C-USA Track Championship

Saturday, May 14

Houston, Texas

All Day

Tulane University

C-USA Championships

Gloria Asumnu Shines at C-USA Track Championship

May 14, 2005 | Track & Field

May 14, 2005

HOUSTON, Texas - Sophomore Gloria Asumnu had one of the top days in Tulane track history as she finished in the top four in four events to lead the Green Wave women to fifth place at the Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Houston's Carl Lewis/Tom Tellez Track & Field Complex.

Asumnu won the 100-meter dash and took second in the 200-meter dash, while helping the 4x400 and 4x100 relay teams to third and fourth, respectively, to tally 17.75 points overall. All four of the marks in those races met NCAA Regional Qualifying standards.

After setting the school record of 11.50 seconds in the 100-meter preliminary heats on Friday, Asumnu won the event Saturday with a time of 11.61, the second-best in school history. In the preliminary heats of the 200, senior Angel Dooley had registered the second-best time in school history, but Asumnu surpassed that with a mark of 23.59 seconds to earn fourth in that event on Saturday. Dooley was just behind at 23.61 for fifth place, surpassing her 23.65 time from Friday.

Asumnu was joined by Dooley, freshman Shanon Beelendorf and senior Tahira Wiggins on the third-place 4x400 relay team, which posted a time of 3:39.26. The 4x100 team of Asumnu, Dooley, senior Lissie Mo and junior Marilyn Sauls took fourth place with a time of 45.49 seconds, the second-best in school history.

"I'm really happy with the effort Gloria displayed overall," Tulane coach Heather Van Norman said. "Four events is a difficult task. I am really proud of her and I am ecstatic that she is a conf. champion. She is a team player and she deserves this. She still hasn't peaked yet, she has a lot more in her.

"Angel did the same thing, running both relays and the 200. They both did great. Angel ran two personal bests, then anchored the relay [4x400]. We're really going to miss her on our team next year as an athlete and a person. She put everything out there and went for broke."

Junior Helmi Leppanen broke her own school record in the shot put, posting her fifth NCAA Regional qualifying mark of the year with a distance of 49 feet, nine and a quarter inches to take third place for six points. She had finished fourth in the javelin on Thursday to total 11 points in the Championship.

"Helmi works hard, she is always getting after it," Van Norman said. "She keeps on persevering and she is throwing so well right now, I think 50 feet is possible at the regionals."

Wiggins also had an impressive performance. After shaving nearly a second of her top 800 time in the preliminary heats, the senior knocked two more seconds of her best in the final, clocking a 2:11.96 for fourth place and five points.

"Coach Mills has worked hard with Tahira this year," Van Norman said. "She has put a lot of time and effort into this season and it all came together today. She really ran well today. I wish I had her for a few more years."

Derek Mills is a Tulane assistant coach who was an Olympian in 1996, winning a gold medal in the 4x400 relay for the United States. Wiggins made the conversion to the 800 this year after running the 200 and 400 primarily in her first three seasons.

Asumnu's 17.75 points mark the fourth time since 2000 that a Green Wave athlete has scored 17 or more points. Hanne Lyngstad won the 1,500, the 3,000 and the 5,000-meter runs for 30 points at the 2000 C-USA Outdoor Championships. Helmi Leppanen had 19 points at the 2002 Championship and Jelena Jurlina had 21 at the 2003 Championship.

Tulane's 63 points lifted the Green Wave to fifth place in the meet, matching last year's performance. Houston won the women's championship with 137 points, while Southern Miss (116.5) and Charlotte (75) rounded out the top three.

"Fifth place does not seem too bad, but our team knows we have so much more in us," Van Norman said. "We only took 14 women to this championship. Other schools had as many as 28, but the people we brought really stepped up."

On the men's side, Houston also won, tallying 201 points, while TCU (105) and Cincinnati (90) finished second and third, respectively. The Tulane men, in their first year of action since returning from a two-year hiatus, finished in 12th place.

Tulane will be in action at the NCAA Regionals which begin May 27th in Bloomington, Ind.

Tulane Results
Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship
Houston, Texas

Women
4x100 Relay
Mo, Dooley, Sauls, Asumnu, 45.49 (4th place - 5 points) (Sat.) - season-best, NCAA Regional

4x400 Relay
Beelendorf, Asumnu, Wiggins, Dooley, 3:39.26 (3rd place - 6 points) - season-best, NCAA Regional

Gloria Asumnu
100 Meters, 11.61 (1st place - 10 points) (Sat.) - NCAA Regional
200 Meters, 23.59 (4th place - 5 points) (Sat.) (P.R.) - 2nd best in school history, NCAA Regional
100 Meters, 11.50 (2nd place - Prelims) - school record, NCAA Regional (Fri)
200 Meters, 23.73 (4th place - Prelims) - NCAA Regional (Fri)

Shanon Beelendorf
400 Meters, 57.77 (19th place - Prelims) (Fri)

Rachel Bryan
5000 Meters, 18:07.46 (12th place) (Sat.)

Sarah Bumby
1500 Meters, 5:05.04 (17th place - Prelims) (Fri)

Angel Dooley
200 Meters, 23.61 (5th place - 4 points) (Sat.) (P.R.) - 3rd best in school history, NCAA Regional
100 Meters, 11.78 (11th place - Prelims) (Fri)
200 Meters, 23.65 (3rd place - Prelims) - NCAA Regional (Fri)

Lisa Green
1500 Meters, 4:59.30 (15th place - Prelims) (Fri)

Camilla Hatlen
Heptathlon, 5044 points (3rd place - 6 points) (Fri)
Long Jump, 19-08.00, 5.99m (5th place - 4 points) - P.R., NCAA Regional (Fri)
100-Meter Hurdles, 14.67 (10th place - Prelims) (Fri)

Helmi Leppanen
Shot Put, 15.17m, 49-09.25 (3rd place - 6 points) (P.R.) - school record, NCAA Regional
Javelin, 43.27m, 141-11 (4th place - 5 points) (Thu.)

Lissie Mo
Triple Jump, 11.52m, 37-09.50 (11th place) (Sat.) - season-best
Long Jump, 19-08.25, 6.00m (4th place- 5 points) - NCAA Regional (Fri)

Aubrey Phillips
1500 Meters, 4:56.63 (12th place) (Sat.)
1500 Meters, 4:48.33 (10th Place - Prelims) - P.R. (Fri)

Taneekwa Ross
100 Meters, 12.37 (20th place - Prelims) - P.R. (Fri)

Marilyn Sauls
Long Jump, 19-07.00, 5.97m (7th place, 2 points) - P.R., NCAA Regional (Fri)
200 Meters, 25.41 (22nd place) - P.R. (Fri)

Christina Tegbe
Triple Jump, 11.38m, 37-04 (14th place) (Sat.)

Tahira Wiggins
800 Meters, 2:11.96 (4th place - 5 points) (Sat.) (P.R.)
800 Meters, 2:13.95 (5th place - Prelims) - (Fri)

Men
Brian Daube
100 Meters, 12.10 (21st place - Prelims) (Fri)
200 Meters, 24.35 (27th place - Prelims) (Fri)

Doug Dickson
Decathlon, 4091 points (13th place) (Fri)

Joe Goosby
110-Meter Hurdles, 16.38 (16th place - Prelims) (Fri)
Triple Jump, 13.72m, 45-00.25 (11th place) (Sat.)

Eric Hambidge
Javelin, 57.75m, 189-06 (3rd place - 6 points) (Thu.)

Michael Menley
Decathlon, 5818 points (9th place) (Fri)

Tim Morris
800 Meters, 2:09.88 (21st place) (Fri)