Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 25, 2002
TAMPA -- South Florida might have placed fifth, but Dayana Octavien was outstanding as USF opened its indoor track season at the University of North Carolina.
At the Tar Heel Elite Invitational in Chapel Hill, Octavien won the weight throw with an NCAA-qualifying and USF record heave of 59 feet, 101/2 inches. It was one of three records set by USF at the meet. The Bulls finished 35 points behind winner UNC. Octavien's performance earned her Conference USA Track Athlete of the Week honors.
Freshman Chandra Brewer set a school record in the shot put with a throw of 48-71/2, eclipsing the old record by more than 6 feet. In the 800-meter run, freshman Bente General finished fourth and set a school record with a time of 2 minutes, 11.70 seconds, more than two seconds faster than the previous mark.
Senior Tara Quinn turned in a second-place finish for the Bulls in the 5,000 meters, finishing in 17:10.26. And in the high jump, sophomore Alexis McGaffagan placed second with a leap of 5-7.
MEN'S TENNIS: The Bulls opened the season Jan. 19 and 20 with sweeps against Bethune Cookman and Florida A&M.
The Bulls, ranked 18th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, had little trouble in singles play, winning two matches against the Wildcats by 6-0 margins. But the highlight of the weekend came Sunday when USF's Uli Kiendl defeated FAMU's La'Vaughn Munroe 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 1 matchup. Also, Kiendl and teammate Paco Antelo defeated Munroe and Isaac Yarrell 9-7 in the No. 1 doubles match.
USF hosts No. 18 South Alabama today at 1 p.m.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: In beating No. 24 Tulane on Jan. 20 in New Orleans, USF ended a 16-game Conference USA road losing streak. The Bulls also accomplished the feat without leading scorer Sonia Cotton, who sat out based on a pregame decision by coach Jose Fernandez. Also, the win was just the second for USF at Tulane and was the first since the 1993-94 season. The Bulls' road swing continues today at Louisville and at Cincinnati on Sunday.