Fresno State Athletics
Young 'Dogs Look to Fill Big Holes
1/31/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Jan. 31, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. - The 2000 Fresno State women's track and field team will come into this season competing without some top finishers from last year's squad. Despite these losses the returnees are looking forward to the opportunity to lead the squad into a competitive season and the newcomers are ready for the challenges set before them. Last season, the women finished tenth in indoor competition and sixth in Western Athletic Conference outdoor championships. Compiling a 3-2 record in dual meets and an 8-5 record overall last season, the younger Bulldogs are looking to step forward and make their mark.
Also gone is former head women's coach Tom Pagani. After 17 years with the Bulldogs he retired at the end of last season. The former Olympic coach came to Fresno State in 1983 after coaching stops at Columbia, Cornell, Illinois, Indiana, and Stanford. Under his coaching the Bulldogs won five conference titles and never had a losing season. In 1994 he was named the WAC Indoor Coach of the Year. Throughout his career here he coached 39 All-Americans and 52 conference champions.
This season the women's track and field team will surely miss of pair of All-Americans in Melissa Price (pole vault) and Angela Daigle (sprints) as well as thrower Sarah Goodlaw. Price finished sixth in the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships with a jump of 12-9 1/2. She defended her title in the WAC Championships clearing 12-6. The Fresno State standout is now training in Southern California and focusing on qualifying for the 2000 Olympics. Daigle competed in the NCAA Championships in the 100 and 200 and made it to the semifinals in each event. She was the top finisher in sprints for the `Dogs where she placed 11th in the 100 and 10th in the 200 which earned her All-America honors. Ending her Fresno State career on a high note, Goodlaw took third in shot put at the WAC Championships with a career-best mark of 48-6 3/4 that moved her into second place on the Bulldogs' Top Ten list.
In the sprints, the baton has been handed over to junior Jynette Grayson-Reed. Earmarked as the Bulldogs' top returning sprinter, she already has acquired several awards. Last season she earned the team's outstanding track performer award due to her emergence as a solid sprinter. She was the top performer in the outdoor 400 meters by posting a season-best time of 54.35 to earn All-WAC accolades. In the 1999 WAC Outdoor Championships she placed sixth in the 400 meters with a time of 54.86.
Leaping to new heights will be sophomore Brooke Lankard. Anxiously waiting her turn to shine in the pole vault, Lankard qualified for the pole vault competition at the 1999 NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman. Although, she failed to clear the opening height at the NCAA meet, she went on to place fourth in Junior Nationals. For her effort, Lankard earned the team's outstanding freshman performer award for her impressionable first season.
Another sophomore that will be emerging after a successful freshman campaign is Andrea Stelter. In the throws she placed third in the pentathlon (1,886 points) in her first collegiate meet. With experience in the javelin (117-2), hammer (167-4), shot put (35-5) and discus (110-8), Stelter also received the team's outstanding freshman performer award.
Other top returnees for the Bulldogs' 2000 squad include sophomore Jennifer Smith and senior Laura Bracht in the distance events. With both having set personal best marks in the 5,000 meters at the Cal/ Nevada Championships last season, Smith finished seventh with a time of 17:47.51 and Bracht finished 15th at 18:33.03. In the 3,000-meter competition, Smith set a new freshman record also at the Cal/ Nevada Championships with a time of 10:11.21. Bracht owns a personal best of 10:39.74. With her first-year success Smith also earned the team's outstanding freshman performer award.
Expectations are high despite the absences of some high profile Bulldogs. Fresno State will showcase new faces and these Bulldogs are eager to surge ahead. As any young team knows, the future can be embraced by beginning their quest for excellence right now.
