June 11, 2005

Sacramento, Calif. - University of Houston senior Krystal Ward scored a total of 3,312 points in the first four events of the women's heptathlon and ended the first day in 12th place at the NCAA Championships Friday night.

Ward began the heptathlon scoring 928 points in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.36 seconds. She cleared 5'10" (1.78 meters) in the high jump to score 953 points and had a throw of 39' 2 ¼" (11.94 meters) in the shot put to add 657 points. She finished the first day with a time of 26.27 seconds in the 200 meters and 774 points.

The final three events in the heptathlon, which concludes on Saturday, are the long jump, javelin throw and 800-meter run.

In addition to completing the heptathlon, Ward is scheduled to compete in the finals of the women's high jump, where she was one of 15 competitors to clear 5' 10¾" (1.80 meters) in the first round on Thursday.

Senior hurdlers Andrew Carruthers and Alicia Cave failed to advance to Saturday's final in the men's and women's 400-meter hurdles.

Carruthers ended his collegiate career with a personal record-setting performance as he finished the semifinals in 10th place with a time of 50.29 seconds.

Cave had a time of 58.37 seconds in the semifinals to finish in 16th place.

In the opening round of the women's 4x400-meter relay, Houston had a fourth-place finish in the fourth heat with a time of 3:35.83. Stanford won the heat in 3:32.23, while Baylor was second with a time of 3:33.15 and Texas Tech finished third with a time of 3:33.26.

Jasmine Jackson had a ninth-place finish in the women's long jump as she posted her best legal jump of the season with 20'3½" (6.18 meters).

Caresir Hamilton also finished in 24th place with a leap of 41' ½" (12.51 meters) in the women's triple jump. Erica McLain of Stanford won the triple jump with a mark of 44'10¾".