Reece sprints into history in season's second meet
Natalie Clericuzio
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: Sports
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In only the second meet of the indoor track season, senior Shakera Reece set Rice's second-fastest time for the women's 60-meter dash, with a time of 7.39 seconds. The mark was just one one-hundredth of a second away from the school record, 7.38, set by TaNisha Mills (Jones, '98) in 1997.
However, Head Coach Jim Bevan calls Reece's performance the best in Rice history, as Mills' record came at high altitudes.
"[Reece's] performance on Jan. 30 was absolutely tremendous," Bevan said. "It is actually the best time ever run by a Rice female because our school record of 7.38 was set at 7,000-feet elevation. They average in an altitude adjustment of .04 seconds, so [Reece's] performance supercedes the school record."
Reece's time, the 14th-best in the country this year and good enough to earn her Conference USA Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors, is especially impressive, as it comes only three weeks into the season. Bevan says her early showing presages a postseason for Reece.
"Doubly impressive was the fact that it happened in January, because we're still early on," Bevan said. "Obviously she should get better. She should be running at the national level by the end of the season."
While Reece has had up-and-down performances over the past two seasons, she began her Rice career auspiciously, winning Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors three years ago. After a hip injury her sophomore year, however, Reece's development was sidetracked.
But after this weekend's performance, Bevan believes Reece has finally recovered.
"She has regained where she looked like she was going freshman year," the coach said. "She is fulfilling the potential that she showed three years ago."
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