Three's company

The SIU women's track and field team's big three are blowing away the competition on the track

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The start for the 400-meter dash is nearing. The first call comes up. Then the second one is echoed.

Marian Appiah-Kubi is pacing, but she is cool and calm. Everything that SIU women's track and field head coach Connie Price-Smith has drilled into her head is being reprocessed.

"I just want to simulate what we've gone over in practice," Appiah-Kubi said about her preparations.

Her teammate, Kelsey Toussaint, is competing against her. But unlike the stoic Appiah-Kubi, Toussaint is anxious and jittery.

Before running her specialty, current SIU record-holder Korto Dunbar is worried about time and not place before the start in one of her hurdles events, as her goal is to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

While all have contrasting styles to get themselves psyched for the race, they all get the same result - blowing away the competition.

The three will look to do the same when they travel to the Indiana Invitational, which is scheduled to commence Friday at 4 p.m.

With just five short-distance runners on their squad, the three are pulling a lot of weight to keep the short-distance squad competitive.

"We don't have a lot of depth, but we have a lot of quality in those three," Price-Smith said.

At the Arkansas Invite, which took place Jan. 25, Appiah-Kubi placed first in the 400 with a time of 57.36 seconds. Dunbar, a junior, had an equally successful day in the 55-meter hurdles, storming across the finish line in 8.12 seconds.

Toussaint put in a superb performance at the Smith Barney Invitational, which was hosted by Butler University last weekend. At the invite, Toussaint placed third out of 31 competitors in the 400, finishing in 58.25 seconds.

Toussaint, a sophomore, said she is a little unfit at this moment but knows her conditioning will improve - and so will her times.

"In the 200, I'd like to be somewhere in the 24-flat range," Toussaint said. "The 400, I want to be somewhere around 55 [seconds]. I ran 55 last year and my times this year are lower than that."

The runners think a reason they are having such a successful 2002-03 season is because they compete against each other and not a huge group, making much more personal.

"There aren't many [sprinters]. A lot more individual responsibility comes with that," senior Appiah-Kubi said. "There is a lot more desire to not just do what you need to do, but more than that. It is showing in our results."

The trio is a very close-knit group. On the road, all three are bunked in the same room at the hotel. The three are also lifting partners in the weight room.

Dunbar said as team captain, she has scheduled other events as well.

"I try to celebrate everybody's birthday, have a Christmas party," Dunbar said. "We do a lot of stuff together when we travel on the bus. We hang out."

As they continue to push each other at practice, they are building a bond that could produce substantial honors. Smith thinks all three have a legitimate shot to place at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships that begin Feb. 28.

"We are on each other because we have to be," Appiah-Kubi said. "I think having smaller numbers has forged a closer bond than we might have had otherwise. There is nothing like adversity to bring any group together.

"There is no telling how good we can be. It is freaky. In the last month we have all made gains in our times that none of us thought we would."

Reporter Zack Creglow can be reached at zcreglow@dailyegyptian.com