Rice University Women's Track

Bevan enters his 30th (2015-16) season with the Rice womens track and field program and his 11th year as head coach of the Rice Owls. Since Rice became a member of Conference USA and under Bevans tutelage, the Owls have been one of the leagues annual contenders for the team trophy and have captured team titles in cross country (2005, 2007), indoor (2007, 2008) and outdoor (2007, 2008). The Owls were one of only two teams in the nation in 2008 to win the triple crown by winning conference titles in cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field. He also coached U.S. Olympic long jumper Funmi Jimoh in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Under Bevans watch Daisy Ding earned 2015 First-Team All-American honors by placing eighth in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That came on th heels of earning C-USA Field Performer of the Meet honors after winning a triple jump title at the C-USA Outdoor Championships. Bevan also had a huge impact on a banner season for distance runner Cali Roper, who began the year by becoming the first Owl to win the C-USA cross country title and was named the C-USA Athlete of the Year. Roper followed that up by winning the 5000m title at the C-USA Indoor Championships, earning the C-USA Indoor Track Performer of the Meet honors. Roper capped off the year by winning her second consecutive CUSA Outdoor 10,000m title to earn C-USA Co-Track Performer of the Meet honors. Also in 2014-15, the womens cross country team posted the highest GPA (3.76) amongst all qualifying C-USA teams. The Owls were named a USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and Katie Jensen and Cali Roper were each named to the C-USA AllAcademic Team. Under Bevans watch the womens track and field squad won their second straight Sport Academic Award with a team GPA of 3.57. Belle MacFarlane was named the C-USA Womens Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year and joined Roper on the C-USA All-Academic Team. Bevan, was awarded his first South Central Regional Coach of the Year Award in cross country when the Owls made history in the fall of 2007 by winning the programs first ever NCAA South Central Regional championship to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. He also earned C-USA Coach for the Year Award when the Owls won the 2007 conference title. It was Bevans fifth conference cross country coaching honor and his second in C-USA. Previously, the Southwest Conference honored Bevan after the Owls 1994 championship and by the Western Athletic Conference following Rices team titles in 1999 and 2002. He won his first C-USA award when his cross country team captured the schools first title in its new conference in the fall of 2005. Bevan earned the C-USA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Coaches Choice Award for cross country in 2007. The award recognizes the coach most committed to fostering student-athlete development and welfare through a positive athletic and academic atmosphere. Bevans insistence on the importance of academics is epitomized by his perfect graduation rate amongst Rice student-athletes with whom he has worked. Two of Bevans athletes, Marissa Daniels for cross country and Callie Wells for track and field, earned 2006-07 C-USA Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards as the top student athletes in their sports. Bevans cross country runners have also prospered during the track season. Julie Jiskra placed fourth in the 10,000 meters at the 1991 NCAA outdoor meet, Nicole Aleskowitch finished fourth in the 3000 meters at the 1994 NCAA outdoor meet, and Canadian Candace Lessmeister was an eight-time SWC middle-distance champion and the runner-up in the mile at the national indoor meet in 1994. Stacy Swank garnered All-America honors in the 3,000 in 1995, while Shaquandra Roberson earned All-America honors in 2000 following her fourth-place finishes at the NCAA outdoor championships in the 800- and 1500-meters, the only runner in the nation to double as an all-American that year. Under Bevan, Rice has been a consistent force in the distance medley relay. In 1999, the distance medley relay team, comprised of Kari Vigerstol, Margaret Fox, Aimee Teteris and Erin Brand, won the USA Track and Field Championships and finished sixth at the NCAA championships. The 2000 DMR crew of Vigerstol, Teteris, Allison Beckford, and Roberson, set the Rice record of 11:15.70 with a sixthplace finish at the NCAA indoor championships. Claudia Haywood won five SWC championships, earned four all-America honors and captured both the NCAA and USA outdoor triple jump titles in 1993. Jumpers Sonya Henry, Diane Somerville, Yvette Haynes and, Alice Falaiye have all earned All-America honors under his direction. Falaiye later competed in the 2001 world championships and went on to win the long jump gold medal in the 2003 Pan American Games. Before joining the Rice staff in 1986, he was an assistant mens track and cross country coach for three years at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo. Bevan was an assistant to Dr. Joe I. Vigil, the U.S. distance coach for the 1988 and 2008 Olympics, the 1991 U.S. Pan American team head coach and a seven-time U.S. Cross Country coach. While Bevan was at Adams State, they won three consecutive NAIA cross country titles and set an NAIA scoring record at the national meet. The school has won more cross country national championships than any other school in the country (30). Bevan graduated from Adams State in 1984 with a bachelors degree in history and physical education. In the summer of 1986, he earned his masters degree in health, physical education and recreation from Adams State as well. Bevan is a USATF certified Level I and Level II coach. Jim and his wife, Vicki, reside in Houston.    Women's Track Home   Email this article   Printer-friendly format Bevan Announces Emily Massad Rabbitt Award 07/21/2016 - Rice University womens track & field/cross country head coach Jim Bevan announced on Tuesday the creation of the Emily Massad Rabbitt Award.

Blackett, in 2007, was responsible for the development of freshman Shakera Reeece, who set a school-record in the 100 meters (11.34) as well as coaching Chandra Ewing to a C-USA title in the 400m hurdles, an event that Blackett dominated in her competitive career at Rice from 1994-97. During that time, she set Rice records in both the 100m and 400m hurdles. She joined Melissa Straker, TaNisha Mills and Margaret Fox in the 4x400m relay to win the first NCAA indoor relay title for the Owls in 1997, setting a school record of 3:34.44. Blackett finished her collegiate career as a six-time All-America, including back-to-back turns in the 400m hurdles in 1996 and 1997. She qualified for the NCAA championships all four years. Twelve years later, she still holds the school record in the 400m outdoor hurdles, as well as the indoor hurdle mark for the 55m. She was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame individually in 2005 and again in 2007 as a member of the 1997 NCAA champion 4x400 relay. A veteran international competitor, Blackett represented Barbados in six IAAF World Championships (1997-07). She qualified for the final four times and in 1999 she placed fourth. She competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, qualifying for the semifinal of the 400m hurdles and she competed in the 400m hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Blackett has a personal best of 53.36 in the 400m hurdles, which is also a national record for Barbados. She set the Barbados 100m hurdles record of 13.39 in 2003. Blackett holds an undergraduate degree from Rice and a master's degree in hotel management from the University of Houston. 07/19/2016 - Belle MacFarlane and Katherine Ip have been named recipients of the 2015-16 Conference USA Scholar Athlete of the Year awards for their respective ... 07/12/2016 - For the ninth time in the past 11 years, Rice University student-athletes earned the Conference USA Institutional Excellence Award in 2015-16 by... 07/09/2016 - Former Rice Owl Ariana Ince battled a strong crosswind to place eighth overall in the finals of the javelin at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials... 07/07/2016 - Former Rice Owl Ariana Ince placed fifth in the qualifying round of the women's javelin at Thursday U.S. Olympic Team Trials to earn a spot in... 07/04/2016 - Former Rice great Becky Wade placed 25th overall, and eighth in her heat, in the 3000m steeplechase at Sundays U.S. Olympic Team Trials. 07/02/2016 - Rice junior track and field athlete Scott Filip will enter Sunday in sixth place in the decathlon at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials after racking up ... 07/01/2016 - Former Rice Owl All-American track and field athlete Funmi Jimoh (Rice, 2007) qualified for the finals of the long jump at the U.S. Olympic Track... 06/29/2016 - After further review, Becky Wade is indeed headed to Eugene, OR to compete in the 3000m steeplechase at this weekends U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

Wenzel-Sanregret's main responsibility lies with the Rice throwers. Wenzel has coached a member of the Robinson family from 2003 - 2013. Krystal, Tina and Sharae Robinson all came to Rice and each own a Rice track and field record. Sharae Robinson (2013) took her place in Rice history with the school record in the hammer 65.50m/185'4" and by becoming the second best discus thrower in the history of Rice with a throw of 53.68m/176'1". She graduated as a two time CUSA Conference Champion and NCAA West Preliminary Round qualifier in both the discus and hammer in 2013. Krystal (2006) owned records in all three events (discus, hammer and weight throw) while at Rice from 2003-06. She is still the current discus record holder with a career best of 55.94/183' 6"). She was the Western Athletic Conference's discus champion in 2005 and the 2006 Conference USA discus champion. She finished fourth at the NCAA Championship in 2005, becoming the Owls' first All-American in the event. In 2006, Krystal finished her career with a third place finish at the NCAA Championships and was ranked 8th in the nation by US Track & Field News. Tina Robinson (2011) is not to be outdone by her older sister Krystal or her younger sister Sharae. Tina is the best 20lb Weight Thrower for Rice with a heave of 18.07/59'3.5". She also held the hammer record of 53.13m/174' in from 2011-2013. Rounding off the list of hammer records under Nancy Wenzel's tenure, is Katie Dollinger (10) who threw 53m/173'11" and Teresa Crismon (04) set a school record in the hammer throw, a heave of 159-9. Wenzel coached pole vault and javelin thrower Ariana Ince (11). Ari was the runner up for the 2011 CSUA Championship and took 14th at the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round. Ari also pole vaulted for Rice 4.11/13' 5.75". Her best mark in the javelin is 48.17/158'0"). Current thrower Claire Uke earned USTFCCA Second-Team All-American honors with a 16th place in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships after placing second in the shot put at the NCAA West Prelims to advance to the NCAA Championships. Uke also finished 14th in the discus at the NCAA West Prelims and won the C-USA Outdoor title in the shot put (17.18m) and placed second in the discus (52.62m-PR). Uke also took 18th at the 2013 NCAA Championship finals in addition to her first place shot put finish at the 2013 C-USA Indoor Championships. Wenzel joined the Owls' track and field staff in 2001 after spending a year as an assistant coach for the Michigan State Spartans, where she focused on the throws and pole vault as well as serving as the strength and conditioning coach for the women's track and field team. Prior to her tenure in East Lansing, Mich., she worked primarily with the sprinters and assisted with the throws at Washington State University. In her journey to become a coach, Wenzel-Sanregret worked as a graduate assistant throws coach at Western Illinois University from 1996-97. Wenzel's mentors along the way include Mary Wallace (currently at EIU), Debra Farwell (WSU) and George Kawecki (CCSU-retired). A 1996 graduate of Central Connecticut State University, Wenzel was a 1996 Olympic Trials qualifier in the hammer throw and a TAC national qualifier in the hammer throw in 1995. She and her husband, Michael Sanregret, reside in Houston, with their two children.