May 15, 2006
UT Arlington junior Linda Rosema earned all-Southland Conference honors a year ago with a second-place finish in the hammer throw. This season, a fifth-place finish in the shot put left the same smile.
"We are extremely happy with the way so was able to come back and do very, very well today," said UTA throw coach Wayne Cunnings. "She had the best series of puts in her college career and I couldn't be prouder of the way she performed today."
Rosema advanced to the finals of the shot put for the first time in her career and then released three straights puts of 13 meters or greater. Her put of 13.44 meters is a personal best and comes a day after Rosema took seventh place in the hammer throw with a throw of almost 2.5 meters shorter than a year ago.
The points gave UTA 13 for the 2006 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships with one day of competition remaining. The final day will begin Monday with the pole vault at 10:30 a.m. and running finals will begin at 5 p.m.
Defending conference champion Sam Houston State leads the meet with 76 points. S.F. Austin is in second with Texas State (34) and Texas-San Antonio (30) and Northwestern State and SE Louisiana tied for fifth with 23 points. Lamar (21), Louisiana-Monroe (16) UT Arlington and McNeese State (13) and Nicholls State (8) round out the standings.
UTA hope for big thing in the sprints with Ellen Garrison and Kourtnee Jones qualifying for both the 100 and 200-meter runs. Garrison won the SLC Indoor championship in 60-meter dash.
The pole vault could be a big points event for the Mavericks. Lacey Moore and Vanessa Madia have each posted personal-best heights this season with Madia (12-3) clearing the 12-foot mark for the first time in her college career.
In the middle distance events, sophomore Carranda Mose will try to repeat her all-SLC indoor performance in the 800 meters. Jodi Hulett will compete in the 5,000 meters and senior Heather Isbell will compete in the 1,500 meters and the 5,000 meters.
