Distance runners Hall and Marches win events at Texas Relays
March 29, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas – Thursday night was dominated by the University of Texas women’s distance runners as the second day of the 85th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays saw Brittany Marches and Marielle Hall place first in the evening events. The first win of the night was by redshirt freshman Brittany Marches, who for the first time in her career was competing in the 3000m steeplechase. Marches pulled away from the field and won by four seconds with a final time of 10:53.72 to give Texas its first ever win in the event at the Texas Relays. “It’s a big win,” said Marches. “This was actually my first steeplechase ever. Last week was the first time I even trained for it. I have always done Cross Country and the distance races, but never the steeplechase. I really didn’t know what to expect, but it was fun. The steeplechase is a lot different from all the other races, but I really enjoyed it." Marielle Hall became the first Longhorn since Landra Stewardson in 2007 to win the 5,000m run and the fourth all-time to do so. Hall was among the leaders from start to finish as she was also able to pull away from the group. She cruised to a 16:35.63, winning by over eight seconds. “I felt really good,” said Hall. “I’m not used to running by myself because I am usually not a front-runner, but that was probably good for me to have to push myself like that. I just wanted to stay with the front group and then push has hard as I could for the last six or so laps, and that’s what I was able to do.” Also in the race for Texas were Jessica Harper in fourth place with a 16:57.33, Laleh Mojtabaezamani with a 17:16.89 and Connor Ward with a 17:41.86. “It always exciting to get a win here at home,” said Hall. “It’s our home event and we stress doing our best here, and I was really happy that I was able to get the job done for my teammates.” The evening started off for Texas with the 1,500m run. UT had two runners in the top four as Anne Jones put in a time of 4:35.17 for third and Katie Hoaldridge was just behind her in fourth with a 4:35.49. Sophomore Danielle Dowie ran the fastest time of the day in the university/college women’s 400m hurdles. Dowie improved by nearly one second from her first race of the season with a 57.59 to make the finals. Joining her in the finals will be the two-time defending champion in the event, Angele Cooper, who finished in 58.98 for fifth place. Alicia Peterson just missed the finals with a 1:00.09 for 12th. Akua Sencherey also tossed a 160-10 (49.02m) for 17th place in the hammer throw. The Texas Relays will continue on Friday with the morning session beginning at 9:30 a.m. The first events of the day are the university/college women’s 4x100m relay and javelin.
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