The Rice women’s track and field team will send several athletes to the Texas Relays, beginning Thursday afternoon in Austin, according to an April 1 announcement.
The event is a significant opportunity for Rice athletes to compete against strong competition early in the outdoor season. Performances at this meet may help set the tone for upcoming conference events.
Saniya Friendly is scheduled to run in the 100 meters after winning that event last weekend at the Victor Lopez Classic with a time of 11.79 seconds. Mikayla Wills will participate in the 100 meter hurdles, following her sixth-place finish last weekend with a time of 14.18 seconds. Sydney Freeman is set for the 400 meter hurdles and opened her season with a best time of one minute and .18 seconds at an earlier meet hosted by Houston.
Rice’s 4×400 relay team returns after recording one of the top times in the American Conference this season, finishing in three minutes and forty-one point sixty-five seconds last weekend. Other Owls competing include Alex Gobran and Heidi Nielson in both the 5000 meter and 10,000 meter races.
Relay teams representing Rice include Green, Mickles, Zamzow, and Friendly (4×100); Green, Mickles, Taylor, and Malikova (4×400); as well as Calhoun, Malikova, Nestor, and Merrell (4×800). The full team plans another outing next weekend at Texas A&M.
