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Houston Makes Strong Showing at Day 1 of C-USA Indoor Championships
Feb. 27, 2004
After the first day of competition in the 2004 Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championship, the University of Houston Cougar men's and women's teams have both etched themselves in strong positions to repeat as champions in wrapping the day in third and second place, respectively, among this year's field featuring women's teams from all 14 C-USA member schools and nine men's teams. For the second consecutive year and fifth time since 1997, Houston plays host to the annual league meet this weekend, Feb. 27-28, at the Yeoman Field House inside the Athletics/Alumni Center on the UH campus. Marquette leads the men's squads by a point, while USF has pulled ahead of the women's teams with a 11.5 point advantage. The race for the men's crown is close as the Golden Eagles (32) are just in front of Southern Miss (31) and host Houston (29). On the women's side, USF has broken away from the pack with a point total of 48.5, and Houston (37) and Tulane (26) end the first day of competition in the second and third slots, respectively. Top performers for the Cougars include Krystal Ward, who captured pentathlon on Friday afternoon with a score of 3811, an NCAA provisional mark. The junior scored a personal record of 1.77 meters in the high jump en route to the crown. Alexis McGaffagan of USF, who claimed the title last season, finished just behind Ward with an NCAA-provisional mark of 3726, while Kelly Faber of Louisville rounded out the top three with a score of 3621. In the men's multis, Cougar Ron Veillon leads in the Heptathlon with a mark of 2960, with just three events left to score. The 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1,000-meter run will be held tomorrow to complete the combined event.
Field events commenced with an outstanding performance by Dayana Octavien of USF, who qualified automatically for the NCAA Indoor Championship in the weight throw with toss of 21.27. The senior's mark ranks sixth in the nation entering the weekend and is a personal and meet record.
Jarrod Jahnke of DePaul claimed the men's title in the weight throw. The senior logged a distance of 17.88 for the gold medal. Eric Frasure of East Carolina (17.37) finished in second place while last year's champion, Adam Martin of Memphis, place third with a throw of 16.86. The reigning men's long jump champion, Aundre Edwards of TCU, won the gold medal and marked an NCAA-provisional time, leaping a distance of 7.60 in the event. Marilyn Sauls of Tulane claimed the women's long jump title, marking a distance of 5.57. Ashley Wilhelm of Cincinnati (5.53) and Houston's Caresir Hamilton (5.50) picked up the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Freshman Megan Malone of USF took the league title in the pole vault after clearing a height of 3.80. Danielle Taylor of Charlotte and Jessica Edwards of Houston placed second and third, respectively. TCU's Mary Kinyanjui came away with the conference crown in the women's 5,000, covering the distance with a time of 17:02.34. On the men's side, Brent Des Roches of Marquette earned first place with a time of 14:59.78. In the men's high jump, Cedric Norman of Southern Miss captured first place while setting a new meet record. The senior's mark of 2.21 is also an NCAA provisional mark. Marquette swept the distance medley relay. The women's team finished with a time of 11:54.76 to claim top honors, while the men's squad captured first place with a time of 10:07.65. Representing the Golden Eagle women were Heidi Lindeman, Julianna Wesolowski, Michaela Courtney, and Audrey Schiltz. The MU men's team consisted of David Henderson, Ryan Seebruck, Tommy Schmitz, and Jeremy Williams. Competition concludes on Saturday, Feb. 28, beginning with the heptathlon at 9 a.m. Field events get underway at 11 a.m. with the shot put, while the mile run for both women and men start the running events at 1 p.m. An awards presentation, in which the male and female Athletes and Coach of the Year Awards will be announced, is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday following the conclusion of the meet. Last year, Houston claimed both the men's and women's C-USA Indoor titles, while UH head coach Leroy Burrell was named C-USA Coach of the Year for both men and women.
For live results during competition as well as updated performance rankings, go to Flash Results Texas (www.flashresults.com/flashtexas).
SATURDAY, FEB. 28
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