May 22, 2002

Houston, Texas - University of Houston senior track and field All-American Rhian Clarke has been named the Conference USA Women's Track and Field Scholar Athlete of the Year after winning her sixth straight C-USA pole vault championship on May 10. She tied her own pole vault record of 12' 5.50" at the C-USA outdoor meet pole vault record of 12' 5.50".

Clarke, who has a cumulative GPA of 3.82 on a 4.0 scale, was one of six C-USA student-athletes to be awarded a $4,000 postgraduate scholarship. The scholarship winners are selected by the C-USA Faculty Athletic Representatives at the league's annual spring meetings.

Earlier this spring, the NCAA also awarded her a $5,000 post-graduate scholarship. She was one of 58 student-athletes who participated in winter sports to be awarded a post-graduate scholarship. The winter sports include men's and women's basketball, fencing, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's indoor track and field and wrestling.

Clarke will close out her collegiate career at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships next week. She finished fourth at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with a vault of 13' 9.25" to help UH finish in seventh place as a team. Clarke also finished in seventh place in the pole vault at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a mark of 13' 1.50" at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Clarke came to UH in 2000 after being named the Western Athletic Conference Freshman Athlete of the Year in 1999 while she attended Rice University. As a student, Clarke has been a member of dean's list each of her six semesters at UH. She also received the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Medal three times. The C-USA Commissioner's Medal goes to student-athletes who maintain a cumulative grade point average better than 3.75. She also received the Houston Alumni Organization's Outstanding Athlete Award the last two years.

Not only has she succeeded as a student-athlete, but Clarke also has spearheaded Houston's track and field team's community service efforts. She raised $9,000 for UH's toy drive to benefit sick and underprivileged children in the Houston area. Clarke also assisted with Houston's play-day track meet for Girl Scouts in the City of Houston and has served as a mentor to elementary schools and been a Habit for Humanity participant.

Clarke graduated from UH this spring and plans to continue training for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and attend law school, where she hopes to specialize in sports and media law.