Event Wins, Topflight Performances Highlight Track & Field's Final Day at UCLA

Saturday, March 31

Los Angeles

All Day

Tulane University

Jim Bush Legends Invitational

Event Wins, Topflight Performances Highlight Track & Field's Final Day at UCLA

Mar 31, 2018 | Men's Track and Field, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field

Results

LOS ANGELES – More top finishes, event wins, new personal records and new season bests. Tulane track and field put together an impressive performance on Saturday in the Jim Bush Legends Invitational to wrap up its trip to UCLA.

QUOTE
"All in all, I thought we had a good week of training out here, and I was happy with how we performed as a group today." -Associate Head Coach Doug Fraley

HOW IT HAPPENED
Tulane's men's and women's teams both finished in fifth place, battling a tough field of competitors, including host UCLA, San Diego State, Washington State, Minnesota, UC Santa Barbara and others, and nabbing more than a dozen top-three finishes across the two-day competition.

Saturday's performance played a big part in that, as Green Wave athletes finished in the top three in the men's 100m dash, women's 400m dash, men's 400m dash, women's 400m hurdles, women's 100m hurdles, men's 4x100m relay, women's 4x400m relay, women's pole vault and women's javelin.

Junior Rebekah Markel made her mark in the pole vault, claiming second place in the field of athletes from UCLA, SDSU and Washington State with a new outdoor lifetime best of 4.10m. The mark topped her previous personal record of 4.05m, which she set last weekend in Houston, as she creeps closer to the program record of 4.30m - set by Alyssa Applebee at last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships.

"She's in a good rhythm right now," Fraley said. "She's had three really solid meets to start the outdoor season. Last week was a new outdoor PR for her, this week she upped that and really was close at the next bar. She's right where she needs to be at this point in the season."

Freshman Kristina Leggas also shined in the pole vault. Leggas finished third with a mark of 3.85m, falling just shy of her personal record of 3.86m, which she recorded earlier this season at the Tulane Early Bird Twilight.

"It's a good, solid jump," Fraley said. "To get third in that field is pretty tough. I was very pleased with her stepping up and making some improvements today."

Freshman Emma King chipped in, as well, scoring four points with fifth-place finish in the high jump and setting a new personal record of 1.62m. Freshman Danielle Wember finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 5.66m while sophomore Skyler Guillot took second place in the javelin with a mark 38.98m.

On the track, Tulane's speed was on full display. Junior Jessica Duckett finished first in the 100m hurdles with a time 13.57 (-0.4 m/s) while sophomore Brandi Hughes secured a third-place finish in the 400m hurdles, circling the track in 1:01.13. Sophomore Maya Harewood finished second in the 400m dash with a time of 55.15.

Sophomore Raymond Kibet took first in the men's 400m, finishing with a time of 46.82 and ahead of competitors from Minnesota, UCSB and Washington State. Kibet's strong day on the track continued later.

With Tulane football spring practice on pause this week because of spring break, he was joined by freshman Jaetavian Toles and redshirt sophomores Corey Dauphine and Devin Glenn, as the trio teamed up with Kibet in the 4x100m relay. The group placed first with a time of 40.50, which is the second best in school history, only behind a time of 40.37.

"Those guys did a good job coming off of spring football and getting a little track rhythm going this week," Fraley said. "They teamed up with Raymond and got that baton around in one of the fastest times in school history. I thought it was a really good step forward."

Glenn also earned a top finish in the 100m dash. The two-sport athlete finished third with a time of 10.69 (+0.0) - just .08 seconds shy of tying his personal record.

UP NEXT
The Green Wave have the first weekend of April off. Tulane next competes at the Southeastern Strawberry Relays in Hammond, Louisiana, on April 13-14.

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