In the Stone Age, USF would need another chisel

The USF women’s indoor track and field team is lucky that it doesn’t have to chisel school records into a stone wall. With the rate the Bulls are breaking records this season, they would spend all their time chiseling and little time competing.

USF broke four school records, along with nine individuals setting personal bests, en route to the team title Saturday at the Northeastern Huskie Invitational in Boston.

“It’s quite impressive,” USF coach Greg Thiel said.

The most impressive thing is that the Bulls won the meet without fielding their entire team. USF took only 14 competitors, leaving the distance runners behind to rest.

The Bulls finished with 110.33 points, eight points better than the host Huskies (102). The University of Connecticut was a distant third with 81 points.

A victory with just more than half the team, explains why the records continue to fall.

Chandra Brewer broke her own school record in the shot put, which she set just two weeks ago, throwing 50 feet, 8 inches to take first place. The mark makes her a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Championships.

Betsy Matson set the school record in the pole vault, surpassing teammate Kristina West’s previous mark set earlier in the season by clearing 12 feet.

Alexis McGaffagan set the school record in the high jump at 5 feet, 8 inches. Teammate Carmen Crespo had set the previous school record earlier in the season.

After nearly eclipsing their own 4×400 relay school record a week ago, Bente General, Karoline Hagen, Amber Delpino and McGaffagan did it this week. The team finished in 3:45.15 en route to a first place finish.

Along with the 4×400 relay team and Brewer, three other Bulls finished in first place. General won the 800m in 2:10.82, just one second off her own school record. Dayana Octavien finished first in the weight throw (66′ 6 1/2′), one-and-a-quarter feet off her own school record. And Austrea Wilkins finished first in the 55m hurdles in 8.32 seconds.

“The kids are buying into just being focused and ready to compete,” Thiel said. “The assistant coaches are just doing a great job getting them prepared.”

With the success of the entire team, Thiel said it was impossible to choose any one individual who stood out.

“To say somebody stuck out (above the rest) would be a disservice,” Thiel said. “Everybody did a great job. The entire team and the entire coaching staff.”

The Bulls look to continue their success this weekend when they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C, for the University of North Carolina Invitational.