Tulane Track Runs at Bayou Bengal Invitational ; Leppanen and Wiggins Both Earn Second-Place Finishe

BATON ROUGE, La. - Seniors Helmi Leppanen and Tahira Wiggins led the Tulane women\'s indoor track team in action at the LSU Bayou Bengal Invitational on Friday evening.

Leppanen, who is Tulane\'s record-holder in the shot put, took second place in that event with a season-best throw of 47 feet, five and a quarter inches. Wiggins, meanwhile, ran the 800-meter run for her first time and registered a time of 2:20.15 to earn second place.

Senior Camilla Hatlen recorded a pair of personal records at the event as well. She ran an 8.94 in the preliminary heats of the 60-meter hurdles to advance to the finals and in the finals she ran a personal-best 8.86 to finish in seventh place. She also had a long jump 19 feet, two and a half inches.

In the 60-meter dash, sophomore Gloria Asumnu and senior Angel Dooley both advanced to the finals, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

Freshman Shanon Beelendorf finished third in the 400-meter dash, while senior Jelena Jurlina was just behind Leppanen in the shot put, taking fourth place. Sophomore Christine Tegbe placed sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 36 feet, nine and three-quarters inches.

Tulane returns to action next weekend with nine individuals competing at the Armory Invitational in New York City.

Tulane Results
LSU Bayou Bengal Invitational
January 28, 2005


60 Meters
Gloria Asumnu, 7.55 (6th place) - Finals
Gloria Asumnu, 7.56 - Prelims
Angel Dooley, 7.63 - Prelims (season-best)
Angel Dooley, 7.64 (7th place) - Finals
Marilyn Sauls, 8.13 - Prelims 

200 Meters
Camilla Hatlen, 26.22 (7th place) - season-best 

400 Meters
Shanon Beelendorf, 58.69 (3rd place) 

800 Meters
Tahira Wiggins, 2:20.15 (2nd place) - season-best
Hannah Carlson, 2:45.29 (16th place) 

Mile
Sarah Bumby, 5:53.55 (11th place) 

3,000 Meters
Jill Shriver, 12:14.94 (12th place) - season-best
Lauren Swenson, 12:37.46 (15th place) - season-best 

60-Meter Hurdles
Camilla Hatlen, 8.86 (7th place) - personal record
Camilla Hatlen, 8.94 - Prelims 

Long Jump
Camilla Hatlen, 5.85m, 19-02.50 (5th place) - personal record 

Triple Jump
Christina Tegbe, 11.22m, 36-09.75 (6th place) - season-best 

Shot Put
Helmi Leppanen, 14.46m, 47-05.25 (2nd place) - season-best
Jelena Jurlina, 13.72m, 45-00.25 (4th place) - season-best
Brianne Darragh, 9.50m, 31-02.00 (24th place) - personal record