Impressive to the end

The women’s track and field team put on an impressive performance and gave cause for hope of a good season Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The event was just the third of the indoor season and provided a good look at the team’s chances of being involved in the postseason competition.

Chandra Brewer continued her stalwart play. After being named Conference USA Co-Athlete of the Week last week, Brewer was equally as strong at this week’s indoor meet. She placed first in the shot put at 50-11 3/4, topping the second-place finisher by almost a foot. Brewer also placed fifth in the weight throw with a toss of 52 1/2. That event was won by teammate Dayana Octavien with a throw of 60-9 3/4, setting the field house record.

The Bulls earned yet another first-place finish in the 3,000-meter run. Christa Benton achieved the feat with a time of 10 minutes, 1.1 seconds. Valquesha Morris finished the 60-meter dash in 7.65 seconds for second place. Bente General placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.44.

Alexis McGaffagan took third in the high jump with a solid jump of 5-8. And in the pole vault, Kristina West finished fifth at 11-6 1/4.

USF Coach Greg Thiel was quite pleased with the output from the team as a whole.

“It is early in the indoor season, and this was the first meet that we really wanted to stress how we performed, and (the team) responded,” Thiel said. “Not only did we have a lot of first-place finishes, but we also had a lot second, third and fourth-place finishes as well.”

He also acknowledged his two top competitors.

“Chandra and Dayana are great athletes, and they perform week in and week out for us,” Thiel said.

Thiel must now get his team ready for the Husky Invite in Boston this weekend, a scored event.

“Early in the season we stress consistent performance. Hopefully we can keep playing this way straight into the conference championships,” Thiel said.