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Track and Field Adds Five Athletes During Spring Signing Period
May 19, 2005 | Track & Field
May 19, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University track and field program signed five student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the spring period, Green Wave head track and field and cross country coach Heather Van Norman announced Thursday. The Wave has added four high school standouts and one transfer to the two signees from the early period in November.
2005 Tulane Women's Track and Field Spring Signees
Name, Event, Hometown/High School
Vanessa Kienast, Mid. Distance, Houston, Texas/Westside
Kyra Lobbins, Sprints, Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young
Jasmine Momoh, Sprints, Houston, Texas/Westside
Shaina Pelham, Sprints, Orlando, Fla./Edgewater
Christina Tupper, Jumps, Sammamish, Wash./Skyline
2004 Tulane Women's Track and Field Early Signees
Name, Event, Hometown/High School
Whitney Hampton Middle Distance Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro
Valencia Wilson Sprints Las Vegas, Nev./Cheyenne
"Our seniors [who are graduating] are irreplaceable," Van Norman said. "But as our program moves on, we have to fill those voids and this recruiting class will do just that, while also adding depth to our program. We need more short sprinters; we need more quarter milers; we need more jumpers. This class will fill many of those needs."
Kienast and Momoh are high school teammates from Westside High School in Houston where they are both parts of the sprint medley relay team which has the fastest time in the country this year at 3:57.71. Momoh is a sprinter with top times of 11.54 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 55.41 seconds in the 400. Kienast has recorded top times of 55.9 seconds on the 400 and 2:17 in the 800-meter run while also posting a personal best of 5' 4" in the high jump. Both were also on the 2004 Junior Olympic Champion 4x400 relay team.
"Vanessa adds to the 400 and 800 meter area," Van Norman said. "We are graduating our top 800 runner and need help in the 400. She will also add to the 4x400 relay.
"Jasmine is a short sprinter [100 and 200], but she can run the 400 and will help with numerous relays. It will be interesting to see what her ultimate niche is with our team."
Pelham will join the Green Wave after a stellar career at Edgewater High School in Orlando, Fla. She finished second in the 400-meter dash at the 2005 Florida State Meet with a personal-record time of 55.75 seconds. She also has a personal best of 24.45 seconds in the 200-meter dash. She is Edgewater's record holder in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes.
"Shaina is fairly new to track and field and recently has gone from short sprints to the 400 meters," Van Norman said. "She has competed successfully at some of the bigger high school meets which has given her good experience. We need someone like her in our program."
Tupper will bring immediate contributions to the Green Wave jumpers after a standout career at Skyline High School in Sammamish, Wash. She registered a personal record triple jump of 40' 8" in April, which was the seventh longest triple jump in the country at the time. She has also added long jumps of 19' 1" and a 14.88 time in the 100-meter hurdles.
"Christina will help our team immediately," Van Norman said. "She is a consistent 40-foot triple-jumper, and she has gone over 19 in the long jump. She will help us tremendously because of losing two of our top long jumpers this year. She also runs the short hurdles, giving us another diversified competitor."
Lobbins is a transfer from Eastern Illinois University who was an all-state selection as a senior at Whitney Young High School in Chicago. She also competed in the Track USA National Championship meet in 2004, helping her team to sixth in the 4x100 relay and seventh in the 4x400 relay. At Eastern Illinois, she was the Ohio Valley Conference indoor champion in the 200-meter dash while taking third place in the 60-meter dash. Her top indoor times were 24.51 seconds in the 200 and 7.58 in the 60. During the OVC Outdoor Championship, Lobbins accounted for points in four events, taking fourth in the 400-meter dash (55.73) and fifth in the 200 (24.65) while helping the 4x100 relay team to third and the 4x400 relay squad to fifth.
"Kyra is another person who can make a direct impact to our team," Van Norman said. "Freshmen may take a year of nurturing to get used to the college environment, but Kyra, as a transfer, will be ready to go right away. She knows what it takes to be at the top which will be a big boost for our team."
The five spring additions join early signees Whitney Hampton and Valencia Wilson to make up Tulane's seven-person signing class.
