UBC Open promises exciting women’s competition

By Devin Rajala and Ben Thistlewood

Note: yesterday we previewed the men’s events; today we look at the women’s events you won’t want to miss

Women’s 100 and 200 m

Sabrina Nettey enters the women’s 100 m with a seed time of 12.00 seconds. She’ll be looking to at least defend, or break her own meet record of 12.12 seconds, set last year. However, Liza Whitehead of the Coquitlam Cheetahs undoubtedly has other thoughts in mind – she comes in with a seed time of 12.06 seconds. High schoolers Carolyn Sutherland and Esinam Ayesu-Attah are also in the field.

In the 200 m, Langley Mustang Georgia Ellenwood leads a young field. Ellenwood, arguably one of the most decorated prep multi-event athletes to ever come out of BC, has a seed time of 25.30 seconds. But this could be anyone’s race – BC high schoolers Amabel Stokes and Elisa Joyce might also challenge for the win, as might UBC third-year Danielle Douglas.

Women’s 400 m

UBC first-year Devan Wiebe could hit the NAIA ‘A’ standard in what is her outdoor season debut, coming in with a seed of 55.40 seconds – 1.6 seconds faster than she’d need to run to automatically qualify for NAIAs.

Women’s 800 m

A strong field will be present in this event as Jennifer Norminton (née Kemp) and Nicole Soderberg of Alberta come in with the top two seed times at 2:10. SFU runner, Lindsey Butterworth could take them down though– she has dipped under 2:10 previously and is a Canadian junior champion in the 1,500 m.

Women’s 1,500 m

Canadian senior 800 m champion and NAIA Championships record-holder Helen Crofts undoubtedly leads this field. Crofts has chosen to begin her quest towards London 2012 at the UBC Open and will most likely set a hot pace for the rest of the field. Jennifer Normiton looks to be doubling up with the 800 m and 1,500 m, where she’s seeded number two at 4:30 – we’ll see how she can handle two races in one day.

UBC freshman Maria Bernard will be looking to run under NAIA‘A’ standard of 4:40.10 in what is her outdoor season debut. Dropping down in distance is another UBC first-year, Jackie Regan, who hit the NAIA ‘A’ standard in the 5,000 m last week at the WWU Ralph Vernacchia. Also in the field are a couple of BC’s top high schoolers in Katrina Allison and Peggy Noel.

Women’s 4x100 m relay

The UBC ‘A’ team of Danielle Douglas, Sophie Tran, Devan Wiebe, and Erin Templeton could challenge the NAIA ‘A’ standard of 47.99 seconds. This is the first event of the meet, so the runners will be fresh.

Women’s javelin throw

The women’s javelin possesses one of the most stacked fields this weekend. Tiffany Perkins separates herself from the rest of the field with a personal best toss of over 50 m. She has represented Canada internationally at the World Jr. Championships. The BC high school champion in 2011, Serena Graf of the Kajaks is the second-highest seed – and one of a handful of girls with personal bests over 40 m. She comes in with a seed mark of 42.50 m.

UBC’s Christine Ausman will be looking to break the 40 m barrier in order to solidify her spot on the UBC team that will travel to the Mt. Sac Relays, and the NAIA ‘A’ standard of 41.0 m could be within her reach this weekend.

Women’s triple jump

At this meet last year, Erin Templeton jumped a personal best of 11.50 m to qualify for NAIAs. She’ll be looking to earn a spot at NAIAs again this year, and will need to match her PB to get this year’s ‘A’ standard.

Follow @ubctrack on Twitter for live updates from the UBC Open. After the meet, results will be posted on http://www.gothunderbirds.ca/index.aspx?tab=track%28mw%29&path=track