Throwers Lead Tulane into C-USA Outdoor Championships
May 11, 2006 | Cross Country & Track
May 11, 2006
EL PASO, Texas - Senior throwers Helmi Leppanen and Jelena Jurlina lead the Tulane women's track and field contingent into the Conference USA Championships in El Paso, Texas this weekend.
The Green Wave will be in action Friday and Saturday at Kidd Field in steamy El Paso with field events beginning at 5:30 p.m. (Central) Friday and running events starting at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, the field events start at 2 p.m. with the running event finals set to get underway at 6 p.m. Live results will be posted throughout the meet at flashresults.com.
"We've been gearing up all year for this outdoor championship," said Tulane Head Coach Heather Van Norman. "Once we all got together back in New Orleans, we set the tone early in the season for everyone to be prepared and to work toward this championship. We've been through bumps and bruises along the way, but every single person on the team has worked toward this championship."
Leppanen, a senior from Kerava, Finland, is a 10-time all-conference performer who has scored 45 points at the C-USA Outdoor Championships during her career, including winning the javelin in 2002, finishing second in 2004 and placing third in the shot put three times. She will compete in both the javelin and the shot put in 2006 and has already qualified for the NCAA Regionals in both events this year.
A 2006 NCAA regional qualifier in the javelin and the discus, Jurlina will compete in those two events and throw the shot put this weekend. She won the C-USA outdoor title in the javelin in both 2003 and 2004 before sitting out last year's outdoor season due to injury. A career 50-point scorer in the C-USA outdoor meet, the Zadar, Croatia product is an 11-time All-Conference USA selection who has twice advanced to the NCAA Championships during her career.
Overall, Tulane will take a fairly young team to the C-USA Outdoor Championships with Valencia Wilson leading the way among that group. Wilson, a freshman from Las Vegas, Nevada, is ranked second in the conference in the 400 meters.
Junior Gloria Asumnu, the defending C-USA champion in the 100 meters who ran in the 200 meters at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, will run both events at the C-USA meet. A year ago, she totaled 26 points in those two events and as a member of two relay teams.
"We have brought a lot of new faces here this year and we are looking for good things to happen," Van Norman said. "Sometimes when everyone is so young, they're more excited to get in there and test the waters, so I'm excited to get started."
The 2006 meet marks the first C-USA Outdoor Championship since the league was realigned last summer. However, returning league member and defending champion Houston is the favorite on the women's side entering this season.
-- Roll Wave --
Players Mentioned
