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Men, women lace up for Pac-10, NCAA meets

Track teams set 3 more UA records Saturday against ASU,

Three more school records fell last Saturday night at the annual "triangle" meet between all three instate schools at Roy P. Drachman Stadium.

In a season where she has already set five records, sophomore Brianna Glenn etched her name three more times into the school record books in the meet against Arizona State and Northern Arizona.

"The progression that needs to be there is coming," Glenn said.

More importantly for the UA men's and women's track team is that each competitor is peaking at the right time of the season.

"It was a very, very good meet for us," head coach Dave Murray said. "We had some real good solid performances."

With the Pacific 10 Conference Championships in Eugene, Ore. on May 20-21, the Wildcats should be ready for at least a top four finish, according to Murray.

The competition, though, will be tough as traditional powerhouses Stanford, USC and UCLA, who won this year's women's NCAA indoor championship, will all be in attendance.

"To finish in the top four in the Pac-10 can mean finishing in the top 10 nationally," Murray said. "The conference is that good."

The women's team, though, should place a strong contingent with the possibility of sending more female athletes to the NCAA Championships than it ever has, all depending on whether all the provisional times will be good enough to qualify.

Senior captain Carolyn Jackson said she is happy with her season thus far, but still has room for improvement.

"I think I've had a fairly decent year, kind of a comeback year," Jackson said referring to her hamstring injury that sidelined her at the end of last year. "My goal though is to get the time I want, win Pac-10's and have a good showing at NCAAs."

Accompanying the senior captain will be junior Andrea Neary, who set the school record for the women's pole vault indoor and outdoor, and Glenn, who has the chance to compete in as many as five events come championship time.

"It'll be tiring if I do qualify for all five," Glenn said, referring to three events she has automatically qualified for - 100 meters, 200m, long jump - and the two she might - the triple jump and the 4x100m relay. "There's going to be a lot of competition and I plan on being an All-American."

On the men's side, this last weekend proved to be a coming of age as sophomore Mike Kenyon won the 400m in a time of 45.78 seconds becoming the No. 1 ranked runner in the event for the Pac-10.

"I'm excited now that I'm ranked No. 1 in the Pac-10, being apart of a big university like this is so special," Kenyon said. His expectations haven't stopped there.

"I'm not anywhere close to being at my peak, but I expect to go on and win the Pac-10."

Alongside Kenyon will be senior Jeff Dutoit, who won the pole vault Saturday night. Dutoit currently ranks seventh nationally.

For the May 31-June 3 NCAA Championships in Durham, N.C., Murray expects both teams to bode well.

As far as summarizing the season, Murray wants to wait four more weeks before reflecting back on an already successful year.

"If we fall on our faces (in the championships) it wouldn't be a very good season, but if we do what we're capable of then we should do very well."

Francisco Merced can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu.