Engesser Rekindles Competitive Fire

Christie Engesser, UC Irvine distance runner, has caught up with the competition. This weekend she will try to pass them.

Engesser, a senior, was a top runner at Oregon but sat out the 1996 season with a knee injury and was an uninspired runner a year ago. She is at Irvine now, and is one of the favorites in the 800 meters at the Big West Conference track and field championships, which begin today in Boise, Idaho.

“She hasn’t been in this situation for a long time,” Irvine Coach Vince O’Boyle said. “She had to remember what running the 800 was all about. She has figured it out again.”

If memory serves her right, Engesser could break Irvine’s school record. She already has run the third-fastest time in Anteater history, 2 minutes 7.19 seconds at the USC Distance Festival last week. It is less than four seconds off Maria Akraka’s school record of 2:03.67.

Four seconds would be a big drop, but the competition might be conducive for the record. Engesser’s top challenger is Sabrina Caplis, who holds the UC Santa Barbara record in the 800 (2:07.31).

Engesser attended Ocean View High and Caplis, a junior, went to Foothill, though the two never ran against each other in high school.

“The first 500 meters is going to be really competitive,” O’Boyle said, “but if this plays out like it should, those two will be battling it out.”

No matter the outcome, it will be a successful comeback for Engesser, who left Oregon after injury and indifference. She was a finalist in the 800 at the Pac-10 championships as a sophomore, then was injured the next season.

Engesser said she lost touch with why she was a runner last year and left Oregon. She enrolled at Irvine in January.

“She remembers what it’s like to run against other people now,” O’Boyle said. “Each week, her time has dropped. I think she has at least another second left in her.”

Engesser is one of several Anteaters who should do well in the meet.

Khara Covington has the conference’s second-best distance in the long jump (19 feet 4 inches). Christy Villa has the third-fastest time in the 3,000 (9:52.25) and Florence Sterni has the fifth-fastest time in the 100 (12.05).

In the men’s competition, Robert Frichtel has the conference’s second-fastest time in the 800 (1:51). Shawn Frack has the second-fastest time in the 5,000 (14:39.42) and 10,000 (30:32.08).

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Cal State Fullerton Coach John Elders doesn’t expect the Titans to score well in the team competition, but is optimistic about several individuals.

Elders expects Sarah MacDougall and Erin Remy to be contenders in the distance events. Remy, however, has been slowed by a heel injury recently.

TraShawn Banford has been one of the conference’s top triple jumpers, but she has been bothered by a recent back injury. Loren Gualco and Deanna Mendibles are leading hopefuls in the women’s high jump.

Among the men, Francisco Vazquez has a chance to score in the 5,000 and 10,000, and Phil Sitner is expected to contend in the 1,500.

Other men Elders thinks have a chance to do well are Adam Loo in the steeplechase and 5,000, Gary Charles in the sprints, Quincy Sims in the triple jump and Dominick Sturs and Jason Pfaff in the high jump.

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Staff writer Lon Eubanks contributed to this story.