May 24, 2010

Lady Tigers garner program’s second highest finish at national meet

Breaking five school records and having seven athletes earn NJCAA All-American honors, the Cowley College women’s track and field team finished fifth out of thirty teams at the NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Hutchinson.

The Lady Tigers’ fifth place finish was the second highest in the program’s history, behind only the 2007 squad’s third place finish. Cowley finished as conference and region champions during both the indoor and outdoor seasons and garnered a pair of top-five national finishes.

“This has been an incredibly rewarding year, I can’t say enough about these young ladies,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said.

Cowley scored 43 team points and finished two points ahead of sixth place Barton County. South Plains (Texas) won 10 events and scored 192 points en route to claiming its second consecutive national title.

After finishing as individual national champions during the indoor season, Cowley sophomores Katie Gillmore and Robin Ray were national runner-ups at the outdoor national championships. Gillmore broke her own school record in the pole vault as she cleared 12-7 ½ in the event, but finished four inches behind national champion Lacey Palmer (12-11 ½) of Mesa Community College.

While, Ray (37:25.88) finished a little more than eight seconds behind Colby Community College’s Scarla Nero (37:17.66) in the 10,000-meter run despite breaking the school record in the event.

Fellow sophomore Cecilia Burley joined Gillmore and Ray as second-team All-Americans by placing second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:59.71.

Freshman Val Bland capped a solid first year at the school by placing third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:53.98) and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors.

The Lady Tigers’ 4x800-meter relay team of Marvia Lewin, Leigh Ann Omarkhail, Jessica Dyer, and Cecilia Burley ran a terrific race and also placed third with a school record time of 9:20.62.

Richelle Farley capped her freshman season by breaking school records in the high jump (5-3 ¼) and 100-meter hurdles (14.53) at the national meet.

Farley, who joined the track team after redshirting during the basketball season, has a ton of potential.
“Richelle could really be special if she commits herself to track,” Phillips said.

Along with Farley, Phillips was excited about the performances of freshmen Val Bland and Leigh Ann Omarkhail.

“They had incredible performances for freshmen,” Phillips said.

The freshmen gained valuable experience this season and learned from the team’s nine sophomores.
“From day one this group of sophomores followed our plan and bought into what we told them to do,” Phillips said. “They are a perfect example of what can happen if you do the right things.”

Cowley results:

• 800-meter run — Marvia Lewin, 2:19.41, 12th.
  
• 3,000-meter steeplechase — Val Bland, 11:53.98, third, NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American, Coaches Association All-American; Leigh Ann Omarkhail, 12:14.22, eighth, Coaches Association All-American.
  
• 5,000-meter run – Cecilia Burley, 18:59.71, second, NJCAA Second-Team All-American, Coaches Association All-American; Purity Cheruiyot, 20:00.75, 11th; Robin Ray, 20:16.21, 15th.
  
• 10,000-meter run — Ray, 37:25.88, second, NJCAA Second-Team All-American, Coaches Association All-American; Cheruiyot, 39:30.80, seventh.
  
• 100-meter hurdles — Richelle Farley, 14.59, eighth.
  
• Pole vault — Katie Gillmore, 12-7 ½, second, school record, NJCAA Second-Team All-American, Coaches Association All-American; Allison Hoover, 10-10, eighth, Coaches Association All-American.
  
• Heptathlon – Farley, 4,132 points, seventh.
  
• 4x400-meter relay — Marvia Lewin, Richelle Farley, Jessica Dyer, Tiffany Wilcox, 4:07.61, 14th.
  
• 4x800-meter relay — Marvia Lewin, Leigh Ann Omarkhail, Jessica Dyer, and Cecilia Burley, 9:20.62, school-record, NJCAA Honorable Mention All-American.
  

Top-10 team scores: (1) South Plains, 192; (2) Central Arizona, 117; (3) Iowa Central, 88; (4) New Mexico, 74; (5) Cowley, 43; (6) Barton County, 41; (7) Mesa, 36; (8) Hutchinson, 34; (9) Coffeyville, 32; (10) Rend Lake, 24.