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Email: witt@uiwtx.edu or phone: 210.829.3828.

Women's Track & Field News

RODRIGUEZ RUNS TO UIW FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR -- posted Monday, April 28 2008

She did not limit her running to a single season. She ran all year long. She ran her name all over Incarnate Word’s record books and ultimately senior Yvonne Rodriguez ran herself to the position of being named UIW’s Female Athlete of the Year for 2007-2008.

All during the athletic-academic year coaches and staff persons in the Cardinals athletic department select a female athlete of the week. At the end of the year all who have received a weekly honor are eligible for the final balloting to select the athlete of the year. The selections are based solely on performances on the court, field, course or in the water.

Twice Rodriguez was athlete of the week for cross country and four times she was the weekly choice for track.

Rodriguez, a product of Tuloso Midway in the Corpus Christi area, began her senior year by winning two different cross country events hosted by Incarnate Word, the UIW Invitational and the UIW Two-Mile Relays. She then finished third at the prestigious Cowboy Jamboree hosted by Oklahoma State University and was 24th as the Cardinals competed for the first time ever at the National Catholic Championships in South Bend, Ind.

Then came her crowning moment when she sped past the field to win the Heartland Conference individual cross country title. Her time was an astounding 36 seconds faster than the second place finisher and Incarnate Word was an unpredicted second in the team title chase. She was named All-Heartland Conference and conference Runner of the Year. After winning the Heartland title, she advanced to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional meet and ran to a 24th place.

Was her year’s running done? Not by a long shot. Rodriguez then moved indoors in track to set three school records. She now has the fastest time in UIW history for the 800 meters and the 5,000 meters. And, she established a school mark when she won the one-mile event in a time of 5:10.97 at the University of Houston Indoors Invitational.

Was she done yet? No. It was time for the outdoor season and she began her assault on the Cardinals record book again.

She seemed to break a record each and every week she competed in the spring. And most of the time she was lowering her own marks in the 1,500 meters, the 3,000 and the 5,000. Her most notable moment outdoors came at the Texas Relays where runners had to reach a qualifying time just to receive a bid to compete. There, she got an Incarnate Word record with a 17:42.23 for a fifth place finish in the 5,000. But more importantly that race gave her a provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II National Championships at the end of May.

So, her running began back in the heat of August and has extended it all the way through the academic year and right up to June and another summertime.

PAIR OF TOP 10 FINISHES PACE UIW IN HOUSTON -- posted Friday, April 25 2008

For the first time in a while Incarnate Word’s women’s track and field squad came home with no new school records but the Cardinals did get a pair of top 10 finishes at the annual J. Fred Duckett Twilight Meet in Houston.

Competing against principally Division I athletes and those from the premier independent track and field clubs in southeastern Texas, the Cardinals had senior Yvonne Rodriguez pace the UIW effort with her fourth place in the 5,000. Her time was 18:22.01.

Earlier in the evening, sophomore Hayley Watts got her 10th place in the 400 meters by touring the oval in 1:00.89.

RODRIGUEZ BROKE HER OWN MARK, AND BROKE HER OWN MARK -- posted Monday, April 21 2008

RODRIGUEZ BROKE HER OWN MARK, AND BROKE HER OWN MARK

Senior Yvonne Rodriguez again last weekend broke her own Incarnate Word record at the University of Texas Twilight meet in Austin, and then she broke her own record, again.

What Rodriguez did was enter two events and lower her own UIW school record in both.

First up she was in the 1,500 meter event in what meet officials labeled the “fast section”. She finished eighth in the field dominated by runners from Division I schools. Her time was 4:43.92.

Then, just s short time later, she ran the 3,000 meters and finished second with a time of 10:17.64. That was a new UIW mark.

Her previous school records in those two events were set in Austin in mid-March, while running this very same track.

RODRIGUEZ POSTS NATIONAL QUALIFYING MARK -- posted Thursday, April 3 2008

Day one at the Texas Relays in Austin proved to be a good experience for Incarnate Word one athlete when senior Yvonne Rodriguez posted a time good enough to make her a provisional qualifier for the NCAA Division II National Championships in late May.

Rodriguez’ time of 17:42.23 in the 5,000 meters not only dropped the UIW school mark but jumped her to 14th on the national Division II list and puts her in line for a berth in the championships in Walnut, Calif., May 22 to 24. The top 16 runners get chances to win a national title.

Normally a front runner in her races, Rodriguez sat back in the pack running a 5:28 in the first mile. She then countered with consecutive 5:45 miles to jump all the way to fifth position at the finish. Her time broke the existing Incarnate Word mark set just one week before by Rose Caldwell who ran an 18:48.06 in Houston.

(See Women’s Track, Schedule/Results for UIW results)

CALDWELL GETS UIW MARK IN FIRST EFFORT -- posted Sunday, March 30 2008

CALDWELL GETS UIW MARK IN FIRST EFFORT

Sophomore Rose Caldwell went off to Houston to the Rice Victor Lopez Invitational to run her first 5,000 meter event of the spring and came home with an Incarnate Word school record.

Having earlier concentrated on others distances, Caldwell posted a time of 18:48.06 for the UIW mark. It lowered the previous Cardinals record by 19 seconds. This event was won by unattached runner Liza Hunter, well known in San Antonio marathon circles.

In the meet dominated by world-class unattached runners and by athletes from Division I schools, UIW got top 20 finishes from two others. Sophomore Hayley Watts ran a 26.12 in the 200 meters to finish 14th while senior Yvonne Rodriguez had a 4:42.00 in the 1,500 meters for a 17th place.

See Women's Track and Field, Schedule/Results for complete UIW finishes.

RODRIGUEZ LOWERS TWO UIW MARKS IN AUSTIN -- posted Saturday, March 22 2008

Senior Yvonne Rodriguez gave Incarnate Word its top finishes in the annual Texas Invitational Track and Field Meet held Saturday in Austin and in the process lowered two school marks.

Rodriguez produced the best UIW showing of the event when she toured the 1500 meters in a time of 4:45.48 which put her in sixth overall. That mark was her first UIW record.

Her second mark was a 10:20.20 in the 3000 meters.

Sophomore Hayley Watts got her day underway by turning in a time of 1:00.18 in the 400 meters for an eighth place finish. Then later in the day she leaped 4.84 meters (15-10.50) in the long jump for another eighth position in the finals.


The Texas Invitational is an open meet which draws entries from all divisions of the NCAA, principally Division I, plus athletes competing unattached.

RODRIGUEZ SHATTERS UIW MARK -- posted Monday, March 10 2008

Senior Yvonne Rodriguez is a safe wager to lower another Incarnate Word record each time she takes the track this spring and she did it again at the Texas State Open Track and Field meet in San Marcos.

Running in the 3,000 meters, Rodriguez posted a time of 10:25.27. That was good for third in the race.

It also was good for the Incarnate Word record, bettering a mark set a year ago. It was good by a whopping 30 seconds.

Other Cardinals finishing among the leaders in San Marcos were Hayley Watts in the 100 (8th, 12.76) and the 200 (7th, 26.55), and Brittany Black in the 400 (7th, 1:05.12).

For this meet there were no teams scores kept, only individual performances.

For complete results, visit the women’s track and field page and the schedule/results link.

RELAY WIN, SCHOOL DISCUS MARK TOP MEET FOR UIW -- posted Saturday, February 23 2008

Sophomore Emily Kopecki went to her first track and field meet Friday as a representative of Incarnate Word. She competed in the discus and set a new UIW record.

The former regional qualifier from San Antonio's East Central High School hurled the plate 118.5 feet for the new Cardinals standard. She finished second in the event during a dual-meet at Texas A&M / Kingsville.

Kopecki for the last year and one-half has been a key ingredient to the UIW volleyball team which this past fall captured the Heartland Conference title.

The Cardinals in Kingsville picked up one first place when the 4x100 relay team toured the course in a school record 4.11.78. The UIW team included Hayley Watts, Laura Castro, Brittany Black and Alma Santos.

Next up for the Cardinals will be a trip to the Border Olympics the weekend of March 1.

--see women's track and field schedule/results for final results.

RODRIGUEZ SETS UIW RECORDS IN TWO STATES -- posted Monday, February 18 2008

Senior Yvonne Rodriguez had quite a weekend as she competed in two states and established three new marks for the Incarnate Word indoor track record book.

The first stop on Rodriguez’ tour was at the Iowa State University Classic in Ames, Iowa. There she ran the 5,000-meter event in 18:07.23 for a new UIW indoor mark. Competing against all-comers, mostly runners from NCAA Division I schools, she placed 17th.

Immediately afterwards, she made her way to Houston for an All-Comers Meet hosted by the University of Houston. First up there, she competed in the 800-meter run. While she finished eighth, her time of 2:25.43 was another UIW mark for indoors.

Her final competition of the weekend was in the one-mile run. She swamped the field winning with a time of 5:10.97. That time was almost 27 seconds lower than the previous Incarnate Word mark for indoors.

FINAL UIW RESULTS
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON ALL-COMERS

60-METERS
1) Francesca Okwaro, Texas Southern, 7.53
13) Morgan Moszee, UIW, 7.86
31) Hayley Watts, UIW, 8.24
37) Brittany Black, UIW, 8.49
38) Dana Littleton, UIW, 8.54

200-METERS
1) Courtney Prentiss, Jackson State, 25.16
10) Morgan Moszee, UIW, 26.17
29) Dana Littleton, UIW, 27.86
30) Brittany Black, UIW, 28.30

400-METERS
1) Tayari Clay, Jackson State, 56.88
22) Hayley Watts, UIW, 1:02.44

800-METERS
1) Hanna Haavikko, unattached, 2:18.00
8) Yvonne Rodriguez, UIW, 2:25.43
17) Alma Santos, UIW, 2:32.12

ONE-MILE RUN
1) Yvonne Rodriguez, UIW, 5:10.97
20) Alma Santos, UIW, 5:38.85

3,000-METERS
1) Oumama Hallal, Houston, 10:38.05
5) Rose Caldwell, UIW, 11:03.06

LONG JUMP
1) Chelsea Hammond, Carl Lewis TC, 6.30m
18) Morgan Moszee, UIW, 4.90m
25) Hayley Watts, UIW, 4.54m
27) Dana Littleton, UIW, 4.47m

RODRIGUEZ GETS UIW MARK WHILE IN IOWA -- posted Saturday, February 16 2008

Senior Yvonne Rodriguez Friday dropped her time down and in so doing established an Incarnate Word school mark in the 5,000-meter run.

Competing mainly against NCAA Division I runners at the Iowa State University Classic in Ames, Iowa, Rodriguez toured the course in an 18:07.23 time.

She finished 17th in the field of runners from such schools as the University of Minnesota, Auburn, Utah, Kansas and Texas / El Paso.

RODRIGUEZ WINS RACE, SETS UIW RECORD -- posted Monday, February 11 2008

In their first action of the season Incarnate Word’s women competed in the annual University of Houston Bayou City Classic Indoors meet and senior Yvonne Rodriguez led the charge on the UIW record book.

The Corpus Christi product won the 5,000-meter event in an Incarnate Word record time of 18:11.71. She finished a good 20 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

It was her first track competition in nearly four years as she has concentrated since that time in cross country. She captured the Heartland Conference title last fall.

There were three other UIW marks set for indoors at the Houston affair.

Senior Morgan Moszee covered the 60 meters in a school time of 8.01. She then moved over to the sandy pit and long jumped 5.36 meters for another UIW mark. The third record for the day was a 2:31.95 posted in the 800 meters by freshman Alma Santos.