February 24, 2003
By Michelle Astacio, Sports Information Student Assistant
The University of Texas at Arlington men's and women's track and field teams both brought home many top ten finishes to finish fourth and fifth, respectively, at the Southland Conference Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday. Southwest Texas won the event on both sides.
Senior Rukaiya Holland (Houston) led the women's team with three top ten individual finishes as well as a top ten finish as part of a relay team. She placed second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.56. Holland ran a 7.52 in the semifinals earlier in the day. Holland also finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.98. In field events she jumped 19-02.50 in the long jump to finish fourth. Holland was also a member of the 1600-meter relay that finished seventh.
Junior Kajsa Haglund (Bastad, Sweden) brought home a first place finish in the mile run with a time of 4:49.79. Haglund also ran the 3,000-meter run for the first time this season and placed fourth with a time of 10:21.
Sophomore Shaniqua White (Killeen) was the only other Maverick on the women's team to bring home a first place finish, which she did in the 400-meter dash. White ran a 56.33 to capture the title. She also placed seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.42. White, like Holland, also fared well in the field events placing fifth in the high jump with a jump of 5-03. She was also a part of the mile relay team.
Freshman Ivorita Taylor (St. Elizabeth, Jamaica) finished third in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:16.74. This was her season-best time.
The women's distance medley relay team, made up of Miranda Zuniga (Diana), Nicole Noel(Lewisville), Taylor and Lisa Haglund (Bastad, Sweden) finished first with a time of 12:07.49.
On the men's side freshman Davis Tagi (Nakuru, Kenya) brought home one of the two first place finishes for the men's team. Tagi finished first in the 800-meter dash, just before teammate Chad Polk (Dallas). Tagi posted a time of 1:52.98, his season-best. He was also a member of the men's distance medley relay team, which finished ninth.
Sophomore Clement Taylor (Nassau, Bahamas) brought home the other first place finish for the Mavericks after winning the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.83. This was Taylor's season-best time and also puts him in fourth on the UTA Top Performers list.
Senior Chad Polk (Dallas) finished second in the 800-meter with a time of 1:53.34. Polk also was a member of the men's mile relay team, which finished third, and the distance medley relay team, which finished ninth.
Sophomore Paul Whitty (London, Ontario, Canada) finished fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.27. Whitty also placed sixth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.24. Whitty ran a 7.93 in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles to provisionally qualify for nationals. In the field events Whitty placed fifth in the long jump with a jump of 23-06.75.
Freshman Adam Stafford (Merkel) finished third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.07 after running a 8.01 in the preliminaries.
The men's 1600-meter relay team composed of: Josh Rosenthal (Carthage), Brian Allison (Danbury), Calvin Portley (Dallas) and Polk finished third at the meet with a time of 3:15.19. The team was made up of
The Mavericks outdoor track and field season will begin March 20-21 at the Texas A&M Multi-Event Festival and March 22 at the College Station Relays.
