• Weekly Notes as PDF File
  

Who's Going:
Four competitors will travel to the Cannon IV Classic and compete in their selected events with hopes of running NCAA Indoor qualifying marks. They are Tara Chaplin (5,000m), Carolyn Jackson (400m), Micheil Jones (3,000m) and Mike Kenyon (400m). Fourteen women will travel to the Husker Invitational: Pole Vault - Andrea Neary, Phyllis Brown and Sarah Jacobs. Long Jump - Brianna Glenn. Triple Jump - TaKisha Morgan. Shot Put and Weight Throw - Mandy Shefman. 60m - Brianna Glenn. 800m - Cara Cline and Danielle Price. Mile - Jennifer Burris and Erin Doherty. 60m high hurdles - Rori Kelly, Alexandra Komnos and Nicole Thomas. 5,000m - Katrin Engelen. Eleven men will also compete at the event: Pole Vault - Jeff Dutoit and Gordy Sasser. High Jump - Keith Varga. Shot Put and Weight Throw - Richard Legarra. 400m - Matt Lea. 60m - Chris Golston, Eugene Kibby. 800m - Mike White. Mile - Jeremy Lyon, Tom Prindiville and Steve Smith. 5,000m - David Lopez. 60m high hurdles - Varga.

Fast Forward:
Arizona travels to Flagstaff, Ariz. for the annual ASU-NAU-UA indoor double-dual meet Feb. 18. The team then travels to Reno, Nev. for the MPSF Championships Feb 25-26. The teams conclude the indoor season March 10-11 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.. Athletes not competing in the NCAA Indoors will open the outdoor season at the Bill Sawyer Invitational, March 4, in Tempe, Ariz.

Wildcat Women's Watch:
The Arizona women have several elite competitors on the team this season, led by quarter-miler Carolyn Jackson. The senior from Tucson, Ariz. will be a national title contender in both the indoor and outdoor 400m. Jackson is a three-time All-American and finished fifth in the 400m at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Two sophomores will also pace the Wildcats this year, Tara Chaplin and Brianna Glenn. Glenn, from La Mirada, Calif., will contend for Pacific-10 Conference titles in the 100m, as well as long and triple jumps. Chaplin, from Montpelier, Vt., won the Pac-10 5,000m title last season, and competed in five NCAA Championship events as a freshman -- a first for a Wildcat. Men's Movings: Three All-Americans return to the Arizona team this season, senior Jeff Dutoit (pole vault) and juniors Esko Mikkola (javelin) and Patrick Nduwimana (800m). Dutoit finished third at the NCAA Indoors and tied for seventh at the Outdoors last season. Mikkola won the 1998 NCAA Championship and finished second last year in the javelin. Nduwimana advanced to the semifinals of the 800m at the World Championships last summer after finishing second at the NCAA Outdoor meet. All three will contend for national titles this year. Nduwimana, however, has a foot injury that will hold him out of competition this week.

Rewind:
Arizona opened its season at the Silver State Games Jan. 29 in Reno, Nev. Junior Andrea Neary had the lone NCAA qualifying mark, setting an indoor school record in the process, with a clearance of 12-6 (3.81m)... Senior Micheil Jones won the men's 3,000m in 8:33.58 (8:23.57aa).

Etcetera:
Former Arizona All-American Abdi Abdirahman will be among the competitors at the USA Cross Country Championships (12,000m) Sunday, Feb. 13 in Greensboro, N.C. Abdirahman was a seven-time All-American for the Wildcats and finished second at the 1998 NCAA Cross Country Championships. The top nine competitors at meet will qualify for the World Championships in Lisbon, Portugal in March. Abdirahman will compete for Nike at the event, which is a scoring meet for teams. Another former Arizona athlete, Matt Guisto, will compete for Reebok Racing at the meet.

1999 In Review:
The Arizona men took only six competitors to the NCAA Championships at Bronco Stadium/Ed Jacoby Track in Boise, Idaho, but the team scored 20 points and finished 14th. Four of the men at the competition earned All-America honors and two came away with second place finishes. The women, who only had three athletes at the event, finished in a tie for 66th with one point, but all three athletes came home as All-Americans. Freshman Maureen Griffin was the first Wildcat to compete at the meet, and she finished eighth in a rain-slicked hammer throw. Griffin fouled on her first throw, but came through on her third toss, throwing the hammer 190-11 (58.20m). She advanced to the finals of the event, but did not improve on any of her final three throws. Later on the first day, senior Abdi Abdirahman finished sixth in the men's 10,000m. Abdirahman entered the event with the nation's top time, but a slow pace allowed three Stanford runners to kick to the title. Abdirahman finished in 29:34.03, far short of his best time of the season. On the second day of the meet, two other Arizona female athletes earned All-America honors. Running for the first time since a serious hamstring injury at the Pac-10 Championships that originally was thought to keep her out of the NCAA meet, junior Carolyn Jackson finished second in her heat of the 400m in 53.83. However, her time was the ninth fastest time in the heats and only eight advanced to the finals. Competing in her first NCAA Outdoor Championships event, freshman Tara Chaplin earned All-America honors by finishing ninth in the women's 10,000m. Chaplin stayed with the lead pack for the first 12 laps, but began to fall back, finishing in 34:52.96. The third day of the meet was the busiest for the Wildcats with six athletes in competition. Junior Patrick Nduwimana was slowed by a strong wind in his face on the backstretch, but still finished second in 1:47.22 in the 800m. Nduwimana took the lead at the final turn and built it to three meters before he was passed in the final 15 by Missouri's Derek Peterson. Sophomore Esko Mikkola finished second in the men's javelin competition with a throw of 252-0 (76.81m). Mikkola's throw, which was into a strong headwind, was topped only by UTEP's Mahti Nahri. Sophomore Ola Larsen finished ninth in the event with a throw of 226-0 (68.90m). Junior Jeff Dutoit cleared his opening height of 16-10 3/4 (5.15m) in the pole vault, which was enough to put him in a tie for seventh place. A number of vaulters, including Dutoit, were affected by a crosswind in the event. Abdirahman concluded his collegiate career with a ninth place finish in the 5,000m, in 14:14.15. In the race, he earned the eighth All-American honors of his career. Junior Micheil Jones finished 20th in the same race in 15:09.70. Chaplin was the final competitor for the Wildcats on the last day of the competition, finishing 15th in the women's 5,000m in 17:01.03. The Wildcats had a very promising showing at the Pac-10 Championships in Tempe, Ariz., May 21-22. The men finished a surprising fourth. The women, plagued by injuries, finished sixth. Esko Mikkola defended his javelin title, while Ola Larsen finished second in the event. Abdi Abdirahman also defended his 5,000m title. Patrick Nduwimana won his first career Pac-10 title, winning the 800m in 1:46.43. Tara Chaplin and Maureen Griffin also won the first Pac-10 titles of their promising careers, taking the 5,000m and hammer throw competitions, respectively. Brooke Murphy, who walked on the program a year ago, captured a surprising win in the 10,000m. Carolyn Jackson did not compete in the finals of the 400m after pulling up 150 meters into the preliminaries with a hamstring injury.

The Coaches:
In his 33rd year as head coach at the University of Arizona, director of track and field and cross country Dave Murray is the dean of Wildcat coaches. Murray, a 1965 graduate of Arizona and former Wildcat athlete, has coached 131 All-Americans in both track and field and cross country throughout his career. He has also coached 21 NCAA Champions, 18 in track and field and three in cross country. Aside from the day-to-day planning and direction of the program, Murray focuses on coaching the Arizona distance runners. Associate head coach Fred Harvey (13th year, Cal Poly-SLO, '82) coaches the Wildcat sprinters, hurdlers and relay teams. Harvey has coached several athletes who accomplished much at the national and world levels, including 1999 World Championship competitors Michelle Johnson (6th - 400m hurdles) and Patrick Nduwimana (semis - 800m). Associate head coach Mike Maynard (13th year, Azusa Pacific, '86) coaches the Wildcat throwers. He has also coached many national and world elite throwers and has coached in international decathlon competitions. Assistant coach Tom Hays (3rd year, Kansas, '89) directs the Arizona pole vaulters and jumpers, and assistant coach Dawn Mortensen (3rd year, Arizona, '96) works with the sprinters and hurdlers.

Murray's Musings:
"This is going to be the first time that many of our men run. The Husker Invitational is going to be one of the places that we are going to get a lot of qualifying marks for the MPSF Championships, and hopefully some of our pole vaulters will qualify for the NCAA Indoor meet. We are taking four people to the Cannon meet because we think they are going to have the best chance there to qualify for the NCAA meet. That meet is very conducive to qualifying marks in many of the distance races."