By
Francisco Merced
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Junior Brianna Glenn stepped up this weekend when faced with Texas-sized competition in the 74th annual Clyde Littleford Texas Relays.
Glenn - the on-field leader of the No. 6 UA women's team - repeated as the 100-meter champion with a time of 11.21 seconds. The time would have been considered a new school record if not for a 2.7 meter-per-second wind that aided Glenn and nullified the time as a record.
"To have Brianna win the Invite 100 with the extreme competition validates her number two ranking," UA sprints coach Fred Harvey said. "I was extremely pleased with how the women performed."
Head coach Dave Murray shared in his assistant's assessment of the junior star.
"I'm just real pleased with her performance," Murray said. "Brianna has been wonderful all year as well as our other athletes."
Also continuing her ride of excellence was fellow junior Angela Foster, who captured third place in the hammer throw with a mark of 202 feet, 7 inches. Foster's finish came behind the only two women who stand in front of her in the NCAA rankings, Southern Methodist's Florence Ezeh and UCLA's Christina Tolson.
Freshman Amy Linden cleared 13 feet, 5 inches in the pole vault along with senior Andrea Dutoit - the duo took second and third places respectively. The mark has landed both an invitation to the National Championships and placed the pair as the top two collegiate performers at the meet.
For the men, the 4x400m relay team of sophomore Matt Lea, senior Keith Varga, and juniors Jules Doumbya and Mike Kenyon had a strong time of 3 minutes, 7.74 seconds in their fourth-place finish.
The team started out slightly sluggish, but ended strong with a 45.2 second split from Kenyon.
Head coach Dave Murray praised the anchor leg for its performance.
"Mike ran an incredible split," Murray said. "He continues to run extremely well this year."
Harvey said he believes the team will improve upon their seventh-fastest time in school history.
"They show a lot of promise, a lot of capability," Harvey said.
A pair of freshmen pole vaulters - Kevin Opalka and Chris Chappell -qualified for the Pacific 10 Conference Championships with a mark of 16 feet, 10 inches.
Looking back, Murray was pleased with his team's performance as a whole.
"Overall the majority of the kids did a great job," Murray said. "We're right where we want to be."
