Meet Notes

The University of Hawai'i women's track and field team returns to the Pacific Northwest for a pair of meets at the University of Washington's Dempsey Indoor. The Rainbow Wahine will compete in the Husky Classic, Saturday, Feb. 13 and the UW Indoor Open, Sunday, Feb. 14.

 

UH opened its 2010 season last month at Washington's Indoor Preview. This week's meets are the final indoor competitions for the Rainbow Wahine before the Western Athletic Conference Championships, Feb. 25-27.

 

Hawai'i will send a contingent of 18 athletes to Seattle. Not among the group is All-American high jumper Amber Kaufman, who will sit out this trip.

 

Saturday, Feb. 13         Husky Classic               Dempsey Indoor; Seattle, Wash.

Sunday, Feb. 14           UW Indoor Open           Dempsey Indoor; Seattle, Wash.

 

UH Participants: Ashley Aitken, Madara Apine, Samantha Balentine, Anika Borden, Cecelia Durocher, Jessica Forrester, Karen Guravska, Ashlee Jimenez, Jamilee Jimenez, TeRina Keenan, Emma MacCorquodale, Mariana Monasi, Careena Onosai, Lauren Opsal, Mallory Ramsey, Sarah Rutsch, Sarah Saddleton, Samantha Whitehall.

 

UH Mini Meet #2 Cancelled: UH's second Mini Meet of the season, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Clarence T.C. Ching Field has been cancelled.

 

Nationally Ranked: Behind the prowess of high jumper Amber Kaufman, the Rainbow Wahine are ranked No. 41 in the latest USTFCCA Division I team rankings (Feb. 2). Kaufman is ranked No. 2 in the high jump after her school-record leap of 6-3.25 at the Lobo Challenge in Albuquerque, N.M. Kaufman is the only ranked individual for UH this season.

 

Athlete of the Year Candidate: High jumper Amber Kaufman was one of 10 athletes selected to the official watch list for The Bowerman, a recently-debuted trophy which is awarded to the top male and female collegiate athlete in the sport of track and field. The Bowerman committee will release its next update on Tuesday, March 2, 10 days before the start of the NCAA Indoor Championships. The three finalists will be named on June 15.

 

National Leader: Amber Kaufman is currently tied with Arizona's Liz Patterson for the national lead in the high jump. Kaufman cleared 6-3.25 (1.91m), at altitude, at New Mexico's Lobo Challenge, Jan. 29.

 

WAC Honors Kaufman Twice: Amber Kaufman was named the WAC's Field Athlete of the Week, twice this season, after performances at the UW Indoor Preview and Lobo Challenge. For Kaufman, she has been honored by the WAC five time in her career, including three times in 2009.

 

Back to Nationals: Amber Kaufman will make her second straight appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships. This year's meet will take place March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. Last year, Kaufman placed sixth at the national championships and earned All-America distinction.

 

High Standards: Transfers Madara Apine and Karen Guravska come into the Rainbow Wahine track program with high expectations. Apine, a Florida transfer who helped the Gators capture the Southeastern Conference championship last season, is a triple jump specialist. In her first competition at last week's Sunset Opener, she already broke the school record with a jump of 39-7.25 (12.07m). Guravska competed at Cerritos College the past two seasons and will focus on the pole vault and javelin for UH, two events in which she earned All-America status last year. Both Apine and Guravska are natives of Latvia.

 

All Are Welcome: Each year, the Rainbow Wahine traditionally hosts all-comer meets at the Clarence T.C. Ching Field. This season is no different as the team will host five Sunset Series meets in addition to six newly created Mini Meets. Are meets are open to the public and if interested contact uhtrack@hawaii.edu.

 

Two-Sport Star: Amber Kaufman was also a starter on the nationally ranked women's volleyball team and earned honorable mention All-America honors in 2009. In track and field, Kaufman placed sixth at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships and won the WAC indoor title that same year. During the outdoor season she ranked second with a mark of 6-4 (1.93m) and captured the bronze medal at the NCAA Championships. In 2008, the San Jose, Calif., native placed fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and earned a spot to the U.S. Olympic Trials, where she qualified to the main draw. She holds the school indoor and outdoor records. She also qualified for her second NCAA Regional last season.

 

Newest Inductee: Former UH track and field athlete the late Terry Albritton was one of four new inductees into the UH Sports Circle of Honor. Albritton broke the world record in the shot put (71 feet, 8 1/2 inches) at an all-comers meet at Cooke Field while a junior at UH in 1976. Later that year, he won the NCAA title. Albritton enrolled in Stanford in 1973 on a football scholarship and also competed in track, where he was second in the shot put in the Pac-8 in 1974. He transferred to Hawai'i in 1975 and was the NCAA runner-up that year.When UH dropped the men's track and field program after his world record breaking season, he transferred back to Stanford, where he won the 1977 NCAA shot put title. Following his competitive career, Albritton served as strength coach at UH from 1979-85, and is regarded as a pioneer in plyometrics and other fast-twitch muscle training techniques.