June 8, 2006

Sacramento, Calif. - For the second straight day, a hamstring injury kept one of the University of Houston's top sprinters from advancing to the finals when sophomore Ebonie Floyd strained her left hamstring in the semifinals of the 100 meters.

Floyd, who came back after a two-year absence from the track, advanced to the semifinals in the first of Friday's running events with a time of 10.45 seconds in the third heat of the opening round to advance to the semifinals.

But, before she began the second semifinal race, she felt some tightness in her left hamstring.

"I thought it would loosen up during the race," Floyd said. "But, it didn't and I pulled up a bit at the end of the race so that I wouldn't injure it any further."

She pulled up in the final six meters of the race, and it cost her a chance to advance to her second final at the NCAA Championships. Floyd was in fourth place at the time and fell back two spots to sixth place in the semifinal with a time of 10.50 seconds. The top four runners in each semifinal automatically advanced to Saturday's final along with the next fastest time. Floyd ended the race in 12th place.

Floyd is scheduled to run in the semifinals of the 200 meters on Friday and could possibly run in the 1600-meter final on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Preston Perry had a time of 10.76 seconds to finish in ninth place in the third heat of the opening round of the men's 100 meters. Perry will compete in the men's 200-meter semifinals and run for the Cougars in the 400-meter relay on Friday.

The relay team suffered a blow when Carey LaCour, who runs the anchor leg, re-injured his left hamstring in the opening round of the 200 meters on Wednesday and will not be able to run again this season for the Cougars. LaCour also runs on Houston's 1600-meter relay team this season.

Jonathan Reeves had a 12th place finish in the second flight of the men's shot put opening round with a mark of 16.73 meters (54' 10 ¾") on his third throw. Reeves, who was the Conference USA indoor and outdoor shot put champion this year, was competing with a sprained right ankle after suffering the injury at the Midwest Regional Championships.

Both of the injuries forced Houston to change its relay teams. Octavia Garrett, LaDedra Guy, Jennifer Hunt and Keisha Howard teamed for a third-place finish in third heat with a time of 3:36.11. It was the 15th fastest time overall in the preliminary heats. Arkansas won the heat in 3:30.32, while LSU was second in 3:30.38.

In the men's 1600-meter relay race, Justin McQueen, Chris White, Dominic Milton and Kolee Latson combined for a time of 3:11.44 to finish in sixth place in the second of three heats. TCU won the heat in 3:04.54, while Oregon was second in 3:04.91.