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LAST UPDATED ON Friday October 31 2003 |
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UTEP javelin thrower ties record ... sort ofJune 03 2000DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- UTEP's Greece connections paid off Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Freshman Angeliki Tsiolakoudi, the latest in a line of Greek athletes recruited by the Miners, won the women's javelin throw with a heave of 197 feet, 8 inches, tying her collegiate record ... sort of. While the distance was the same in feet inches that Tsiolakoudi's best throw measured May 6 at El Paso, Texas, there was a two centimeter difference in the metric measurement. Saturday's metric distance was 60.24, last month's 60.26. The conversion is the same for both. "She came here last fall," Mika Laaksonen, the Miners' throws coach said. "We've had Greek athletes before. That's how we found her." Tsiolskoudi, who qualified for the Greek Olympic team with her collegiate record last month, uncorked her big throw Saturday on the final attempt of the competition. "I had a hard day because it was so hot and humid," she said. "On the last throw, I didn't make the technical mistakes I did on the first five throws. Prior to the winning toss, Tsiolakoudi was leading with a meet-record 182-7, four inches farther than Vigdis Gudjonsdottir of Georgia threw last year at Boise, Idaho, with the remodeled javelin that doesn't travel as far as the old one. Tsiolakoudi, 24, had surgery on her right elbow in January 1999, and made a remarkable recovery. After the operation, doctors predicted a six-month recovery period. Instead, she was back throwing four months later and finished second at the Greece championships and then third at the Balkan Games. "I wasn't ready then," she said. The elbow still is tender, and Tsiolakoudi has "to be careful not to make a mistake during competition," for fear of reinjuring it. She hasn't made many mistakes this season. This was her fifth victory in six meets -- and her most important. "She ended the season well," Laaksonen said. "I'm glad she went over 60 meters in this meet." The javelin was the first of 18 finals on the last day of the four-day championships at Duke's Wallace Wade Stadium. Check out the Jumpstart Athletics Canadian National Throws Rankings for complete rankings in the throws. If you have news, results or info please let us know by using our submission form or emailing Larry Steinke [ MEET INFORMATION ] [ ANALYSIS & TIPS ] [ THROWS ARTICLES ] [ INTERVIEWS ] [ RECORDS ] [ RESULTS ] [ CLASSIFIEDS ] [ HOT LINK ARCHIVE ] [ DISCUSSION FORUM ] [ SUBMISSIONS ] [ THROWERS QUIZ ] [ GUESTBOOK ] | ||