When the Arizona’s No. 12 men’s and No. 20 women’s track and field teams headed to Lincoln, Neb., for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational this weekend, they looked prime to shine against some of the best track programs in the country. Injuries and other factors, however, did not give the teams the results they were looking for.
“”We had a lot of ups and downs in terms of performances,”” said UA head coach Fred Harvey. “”But overall the meet went really, really well.””
Arguably the best performance of the weekend came from Arizona’s female pentathlon competitor, Shevell Quinley. Despite struggling on the first two segments, Quinley used consistency throughout the event to edge Megan Wheatley of Nebraska by three points. Quinley’s final score of 4,125 points easily earned her an automatic qualification for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
Christina Rogers was the only other UA athlete to win an event, taking the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.97.
On the men’s side, the high hopes that were in place for sprinter Bobby McCoy took a serious turn when he developed back pains while warming up for his 400m dash heat race Friday. McCoy fought through the pain and won the heat, but his time did not qualify him for the finals and he had to settle for the consolation race. Despite still feeling the pain Saturday, McCoy finished third in the consolation bracket with a time of 49.55.
“”The biggest thing for us this weekend is that (the team) competed well with some of the best competition in the country,”” Harvey said. “”They stepped up and learned how to deal with injuries (to their teammates).””
Shot putter Zack Lloyd also had a tough day, fouling on four of his six attempts. His toss of 19.46 meters was good for second place.
“”Zack’s getting ready for the NCAA (championships),”” said UA throwers coach Craig Carter. “”We weren’t looking at this meet as where we want him to perform the best ever. We’re getting ready for March.””
This week’s meet came after both squads moved into the national rankings for the first time on the year, a fact that some athletes would say does not mean much in the end.
“”When it boils down to it, it just matters who’s ‘on’ on any given day,”” long jumper Daniel Marshall said. “”I don’t think anybody really thinks about the rankings.””
