April 21, 2011
HEAT SHEETS
TUCSON – The University of Arizona No. 16 men's and No. 8 women's track and field teams will send a small group of throwers to San Diego this weekend to take part in the Triton Invitational, hosted by the UC San Diego.
The Arizona throwing team has been among the nation's best in 2011 on both the men's and women's sides and will face off against some elite competition this week from both collegiate and competitive international competition.
Sophomore Julie Labonte has been a force during the current track and field campaign and enters the meet with the top mark in the shot put at the NCAA level this season with her career best throw of 17.71m (58-1 ¼) set at the Texas Relays two weeks ago. That mark is also good for the ninth best mark internationally in 2011 and is just a couple centimeters shy of the Canadian national record in the event.
Labonte is one of three Wildcats to have throws over 17 meters this season, alongside sophomore Alyssa Hasslen (17.10m) and freshman-school record holder Baillie Gibson (17.07m). All three student-athletes rank in the top-10 collegiately in 2011, a feat that not even close to being matched by any team in the nation.
To put the feat in perspective, only one Wildcat in 30 years of shot put history had cleared 17 meters before this season and that was the great Olympian and women's throwing pioneer Meg Richie.
Gibson has also been impressive in the discus, having set career bests in every meet this season and ranking in the conference's top-five athletes in the event with her season's best of 53.38m (175-1 ¾).
The women's shot putters aren't the only ones shining during the current outdoor campaign, as the UA men have two student-athletes of their own ranked in the NCAA top-10. Freshman Bozidar Antunovic has posted a season's best of 18.78m (61-7 ½) for the eighth best throw in the nation while senior teammate Rob Gire has had a monster of a season and comes in just behind him in ninth with a best of 18.73m (61-5 ½). The two also rank eighth and ninth on Arizona's all-time top-10 list.
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Johnson also enters the meet on a bit of a tear, setting several collegiate personal bests this season en route to his current season best of 60.62m (198-10).
Other athletes in competition this weekend include Asia Easley and Leigh Bernstein in the javelin throw and Taylor Bush and Taylor Freeman in the hammer throw for the women's team. All four have earrned All-Conference honors in their careers.
The Arizona throwing team has the potential to post some huge points for both the men and women when the Pac-10 Championships roll around to Tucson in a couple weekends, and every competitor in the field for the Wildcats has a legitimate shot of scoring at that meet. A meet like this, featuring some elite competition as well as some athletes the team will face of at the conference meet, gives the UA team some much needed experience on the grand stage as the squad prepares for that.
The meet will mainly take place on Saturday, though Bush and Freeman will compete tomorrow in the Invitational section of the women's hammer. Check back at arizonawildcats.com at the conclusion of each day's events for a full recap.
