Bodo throws her weight at invitational

RENO -- Janine Bodo was understandably excited Saturday afternoon, not only for herself but for her University of Nevada track and field teammates.

Bodo, a sophomore from Galena High School graduate, shattered her personal record in the women's 20-pound weight throw and captured second-place for the Wolf Pack at the Bill Cosby Invitational indoor meet held at the Reno Livestock Events Center.

Bodo's throw of 57 feet, 9-1/2 inches was an improvement of more than two feet from the week before. A change in her approach in the ring apparently paid off.

"I went from a two-turn to a three-turn and that helped," Bodo said. "Today was a big jump for me."

Her mark was only nine inches off Nevada's school record in the event. More important, Bodo now ranks No. 2 in the Western Athletic Conference. And even better yet, if you were to ask Bodo, the Wolf Pack is in position to score heavily in the throws at the WAC indoor championships on Feb. 27-March 1 in Boise.

The Wolf Pack's Caira Hane placed fourth in the weight (53-11), Shario Marshall seventh (50-7) and Kelly Bowman eighth (50-5). Stephanie Tietje was also second in the shot put (44-9).

"We all improved today," Bodo said. "We have four of the top eight in WAC in the weight and two in the shot. Last year, we only had one, so we're a lot stronger now."

Nevada picked up victories from Nicole McRae in the 800 meters (2:12.05), Jerita Crudder in the 200 meters (24.95), and Erin Kelly in the triple jump (40-2-3/4), to go with a 1-2 sweep of the 5,000 meters by Ginny Johnson (18:51.97) and Sarah Frank (18:52.23).

Julie Hinton, another Galena graduate, placed third in the 800 meters (5:13.19) to help Nevada capture the team championship by a 167.5-96 margin over WAC rival Fresno State. The Wolf Pack has now each of their three invitationals at home this month, with the Holiday Inn Classic coming up next Saturday.

"We're continuing to improve and we're jelling as a team," Nevada coach Curt Kraft said. "We're exactly where we need to be right now."

Notes ... Carson High graduate Chandler Menteer finished ninth in the men's shot put with a throw of 47-4-1/2 for Southern Utah. Don Richards, a former state pole vault champion at Carson, competed but didn't clear a height. ... Robert Linkul, a Whittell High graduate and Carson City resident, tied for 10th in the men's weight throw (53-10) for Sacramento State. ... The men's pole vault was won at 17-10-1/2 by Piotr Buciarski of Eugene, Ore. Buciarski is preparing to represent Denmark at the World indoor championships next month in Birmingham, England, and hopes to compete at the Athens Olympics in 2004. His father, Wojciech Buciarski, vaulted for Poland at the Olympics in 1972 and '76.