Oregon sophomore Alisha Rowlee, who officially represented the Ducks for the first time just a month ago, held off a charge in the 100-meter dash from former Oregon sprinter Mandy White, who still holds the program’s sixth-best time, Friday night at the Oregon Twilight Meet.
Rowlee finished in 11.80 seconds with White just .01 second behind.
“Mandy is an amazing competitor,” said Rowlee. “She was here, she’s an All-American and now she’s pro. That was a really great experience.”
Tonight, Rowlee lowered her own personal best for the second time this year at Hayward Field. She said her focus was to “get out strong, get my hips underneath me and just power into the finish line. Get my knees down and get my feet down to the ground. I’ve been working on that a lot.”
While Rowlee is on the upswing of her running career, White is working on a comeback. After taking the last year off and having torn her quad in multiple places, she said, “I’m just trying to get everything turned back on and get my legs back.”
Her first race back from injury was April in the Mt. Sac Relays, where she ran 11.64 to finish seventh.
Although not the outcome she was looking for tonight, White plans to continue her training in Los Angeles and hopes to continue racing in various contests throughout the next months.
“I’m just trying to qualify for nationals,” White said.
