Track: Rockets Set to Open Indoor Season at Kent
12/7/2000 12:00:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
Dec. 7, 2000
Toledo, OH - The 2000-01 indoor track and field season will commence for University of Toledo this Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Kent State Open in Kent, OH. The non-scoring meet is set to begin with field events at 10:30 a.m. and running events at 11:15.
The Rockets begin the new indoor campaign coming off the most successful cross country season in school history. Freshman Tuula Laitinen (Ojakkala, Finland) became the first-ever UT cross country runner to advance to the NCAA Cross Country Championship race. She will run distance events for the women.
The Toledo women also return senior Julia Ford (Detroit, MI), who ranks fourth all-time at UT in 400-meters (56.64) and ranks fifth in 60-meters (7.68). She will be joined by senior Cyd Edmunds (East Wanatchee, WA), who ranks second in the shot put (45-4 1/2) and is fourth all-time at UT in the pentathlon with 3345 points.
The men's squad returns to the indoor scene where they captured Mid-American Conference Championships in the long jump and high jump in 2000. Defending long jump champion Kevin Grant (Toronto, ONT) will redshirt for the 2000-01 track season and the 2000 high jump champion Bi Hongyong was lost to graduation.
Senior Paul Sehzue (Akron, OH), who represented Liberia at the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia, will return for the outdoor season in late March. The Rockets will look to sophomores Kolin Bernard (Ann Arbor, MI), Lashawn Alexander (Groveport, OH) and Abraham Habte (Columbus, OH) to play key roles in the success of the indoor season with Bernard running sprints, Habte running distance and Alexander competing in both the hurdles and jump events.
