May 27, 2006

Final Stats

Austin, Texas - University of Houston sprinter Ebonie Floyd's comeback season will continue another two weeks after she qualified to compete at the NCAA Championships in four different events Saturday.

Floyd registered a second place finish in the 200 meters, a third-place showing in the 100 meters and ran the anchor leg on Houston's second-place 1600-meter relay team and third-place 400-meter relay team at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships.

Floyd began the day by overtaking Baylor's Carla Grace and Oklahoma's Larica Urbina in the final 100 meters of the relay to lead Houston to a third-place finish with a time of 44.27 seconds. Texas won the relay in 43.17 seconds, while TCU was second in 44.16 seconds.

Then, Floyd qualified in the 100 meters with a third-place finish with a wind-aided time of 11.14 seconds.

"I ran real well in the first 80 meters of the race, but began pressing at the end instead of staying relaxed," Floyd said.

TCU's Virgil Hodge was the women's 100-meter champion with a time of 11.10 seconds that was aided by a wind of 2.4 meters per second. Alexandria Anderson of Texas was the runner-up in 11.10 seconds. The favorite in the race was the defending champion Marshevet Hooker of Texas, but she pulled up after 60 meters into the race.

Later, Floyd advanced in the 200 meters by overtaking three runners to finish as the runner-up with a time of 22.72 seconds. Her time came with a wind just over the allowable at 2.4 meters per second.

"I really didn't get out as well as I would have liked in the 200 meters," Floyd said. "I came around the curve and saw that I was in fifth place and told myself this is ridiculous."

Hodge took advantage of her slow start as she began the race behind Floyd in lane 4 and there wasn't another runner in lane six because Hooker was forced to sit out the race with her injury. After the slow start, Floyd closed fast in the final 100 meters to finish in second place.

In the final women's race of the night, Keisha Howard, LaDedra Guy, Octavia Garrett and Floyd combined to post the second-fastest time in school history with 3:31.73 and finished in second place overall behind Texas, who won the relay in 3:30.85.

The Cougars finished second despite running from the outside lane in the relay on the first two legs.

"That was hard because I don't normally run in front right away," Howard said. "I just didn't want anyone to catch me and made sure I kept our goal of handing the baton off in first place."

Then, Guy ran the second leg in the outside lane as well.

"I had a feeling that people were running up on me," Guy said. "That makes it hard to stay relaxed. I just didn't want to let them catch me."

By the time Floyd received the baton, Texas and Texas A&M had pulled out in front, but that didn't seem to matter to her.

"I felt like I was in a comfortable position," Floyd added. "I knew at the 200-meter mark, that I could catch (Texas A&M's Katie Baker) and was able to catch her at the finish line."

In the men's races, Carey LaCour advanced in the men's 200-meter race with a second-place wind-aided time of 20.61 seconds. Conference USA champion Churandy Martina of UTEP won the 200-meter race with a time of 20.54 seconds that also had a wind of +3.54 seconds.

"I ran a good race," LaCour said. "I was leading with about 20 meters to go, but settled in and made sure that I didn't injure my hamstring again."

LaCour, who pulled his left hamstring in practice right after the Drake Relays, has been nursing the injury ever since.

In the men's 100-meter race, Preston Perry just missed qualifying in the 100 meters as he finished in sixth place with a wind-aided time of 10.23 seconds. The wind in the race was 4.5 meters per second.

Perry had another frustrating sixth-place finish in the 200 meters as he finished in sixth place again with a time of 20.90 seconds.

"I go out okay," Perry said. "But when I tried to accelerate in the final 100 meters, my body wouldn't do it. Hopefully, I can get in the NCAA meet with my previous time."

Houston also finished in fifth place in the men's 4x100-meter relay race, but only the top three teams advance to the NCAA Championships. The Cougars finished with a season-best time of 39.47 seconds.

The Cougars ended the meet with a ninth-place finish in the men's 4x400-meter relay as Dominic Milton, LaCour, Justin McQueen and Kolee Latson combined for a time of 3:09.63.

In the men's 400-meter relay race, Houston finished in fifth place as Vincent Marshall, Perry, Tremaine Smith and LaCour teamed for a season-best time of 39.47 seconds.

Caresir Hamilton tied for 11th place in the women's triple jump with a Stephanie Miller of Wichita State after she registered a wind-aided leap of 12.70 meters (41' 8") on her second jump Saturday. It was the second-best effort in the triple jump for Hamilton this season as she ends her junior season as the Conference USA champion and a school record with a leap of 13.22 meters (43' 4 ½") at the C-USA meet.

Jonathan Reeves closed out his collegiate career with an eighth-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 17.59 meters (57' 8 ½"). Reeves had his best effort on his first throw, and also had a mark of 17.58 meters (57' 8 ¼") on his first shot put in the finals before stumbling out of ring and twisting his ankle on his fifth throw.

Reeves closed out his career having finished as the 2006 Conference USA champion in the shot put with a career-best mark of 18.44 meters (60' 6"). He also had a shot put mark of 18.44 meters at the UTSA Relays. He also was the C-USA runner-up in the discus throw after winning the event in 2005.

The Cougar men's team finished in 12th place with 21 team points. Texas was the men's team champion with 91.83 points and UTEP was the runner-up with 72.50 points.

In the women's division, Houston finished in ninth place with 31 team points. Texas also won the women's team championship with 93 points and Texas A&M finished in second place with 72 points.