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Feb. 7, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University women's indoor track and field team is in New York City Friday and Saturday for the 8th Annual New Balance Collegiate Invitational, a meet with national implications on one of the fastest indoor tracks in the world - the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory.

The Green Wave participated in the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup in University Park, Pa. on Feb. 1-2 and finished fifth among 13 teams. Senior sprinter Gloria Asumnu was named Conference USA Track and Field Female Athlete of the Week after tying a facility record and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.26, which stands as the second-best time in the nation. She also won the 200m and turned in a provisional qualifying time of 23.90. Senior distance runner Aubrey Phillips set a school record in winning the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:05.31. The 4x400-meter relay team also made a splash, finishing second with a season-best time of 3:42.80.

Live scoring and results of the New Balance Collegiate Invite on both Friday and Saturday are available on the Internet at http://ny.milesplit.us/pages/2008CollegiateResults.

Sprinters participating for Wave include Asumnu and junior Shaina Pelham in the 60m and 200m. Wilson and freshmen Aieshia Brooks and Zandria DeBowles will run the 400m. Asumnu, Pelham, junior Vanessa Kienast and sophomore Valencia Wilson are scheduled to run the 4x400 relay, along with Debowles, Brooks and sophomore Olivia Kizzee. Asumnu, Wilson, Pelham, Kizzee and junior Kyra Lobbins are scheduled to run the 4x200 relay.

Kienast and freshman Rebecca Coady will take on the 800m, and Coady and Phillips will run the one mile race. Phillips and freshman Laurie Dalrymple will run the 3,000m race as well.

In the field portion of the meet, Debowles will test her mettle in the high jump this week, while sophomore multi-event competitor Nicolette Taku hopes to get closer to an NCAA qualifying mark in the triple jump and the long jump. Junior thrower Katarina Busljeta will launch the shot put and the 20 lb. weight.

A recap and final results of the meet, as well as all Green Wave track and field news, interviews and results are available on the web at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.