By
Francisco Merced
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Men get extra effort from durable Mike Kenyon; Opalka wins pole vault
Going head-to-head with a two-time NCAA champion, junior Brianna Glenn
outpaced Southern California's Angela Williams winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.69 seconds.
Williams came in second with a time of 24.08 at the Brutus Hamilton Memorial Invitational in Berkeley, Calif.
Glenn doubled up by also winning the 100m for the Wildcats.
The women as a team, however, finished second to No. 1 USC by count of 173-165.5.
For UA head coach Dave Murray, the scores were merely a byproduct of how well his athletes competed.
"I thought this was an excellent meet for us," Murray said. "The scoring didn't matter that much to us, rather it was how well our performances were."
In regards to his star junior's achievements, Murray noted that Glenn continues to excel week in and week out.
"She ran extremely well in both events which had a strong head wind," Murray said. "The most important thing is that she beat Williams who is probably considered the most prolific collegiate sprinter in the country."
For the No. 3 Wildcats, the meet was highlighted with a wealth of personal bests and qualifiers for the nearing NCAA championships.
The area of most success seemed to come from the distance events.
Junior Tara Chaplin continued her remarkable season by finishing first in the 5000m in a time of 16 minutes, 45.43 seconds.
Senior Katrin Engelen also took first for the women in the 3000m steeplechase finishing in 10:24.62.
Senior Erin Doherty took second and third in the 1500m (4:27.23) and 800m (2:09.5), respectively, running personal bests in both races.
In the field events, junior Angela Foster continues to throw well as she placed second in the hammer throw with a mark of 197 feet, 11 inches.
Senior Andrea Dutoit once again took first in the pole vault clearing a height of 13 feet, 1 inch.
" I still go out learning to make myself better," the senior captain said. "The only time when place matters is when we're competing in the championships and every point counts for your team."
For the men, the meet demanded extra work as many athletes competed in more than the usual slate of events.
Junior Mike Kenyon competed in a total of four events as he helped both relay teams in the 4x100m and 4x400m finish second. Individually, Kenyon placed second in the 400m and won the 200m. Sophomore Matt Lea followed Kenyon finishing third in both races.
"When you run four events in one day you can't expect to have lifetime performances," Murray said. "They still ran exceptionally well."
The meet also provided a first for freshman Kevin Opalka who won the men's pole vault. This was Opalka's first victory outdoors. He cleared a height of 16-6.
"It's all right," he said. "But of course I would have liked to have jumped a little higher. The important thing is that I'm improving every meet."
The men's team ended with 143 points finishing third behind host California (152 points) and Stanford (144 points).
"Overall, it was a good opportunity to compete at the sight where the (Pacific-10 Conference Championships) are going to be held," Murray said.
