June 8, 2007

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA adds four All-Americans to its total at the 2007 NCAA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday.

Senior Ebonie Floyd and junior Ivan Diggs earned Houston a pair of All-American honors by placing second in the 100m (11.28) and eighth in the high jump (2.20m/7.25"), respectively.

SMU's Gaelle Niare placed fourth at the conclusion of the seven-event heptathlon Friday with a total of 5,797 points, setting a Mustang school record in that event, for All-America accolades.

Junior Alex Becker earned All-America honors in the 5,000m after turning in a time of 16:00.34 to finish seventh in the event. Her time sets a new school record in the event as she becomes the first TU athlete to sweep All-American honors during the indoor and outdoor championships.

UTEP's Stephen Samoei and Rice's Marissa Daniels picked up Conference USA first All-America honors in the 10,000-meter races Thursday. Samoei finished sixth with a time of 28:55.83, while Daniels clocked a career-best and 11th-place finish of 33:57.37.

Saturday's championship events will be broadcast live on CBS with coverage beginning at 12 p.m.

Full NCAA Championships results are available at: http://www.flashresults.com/2007_Meets/outdoor/NCAADivisionI/index.htm

The following are team wrap-ups from Friday.

HOUSTON
Senior Ebonie Floyd and junior Ivan Diggs earned All-American status Friday for their performances at the NCAA Championship in Sacrament, Calif.

Floyd finished second in the 100 meters with a finish of 11.28. She trailed Sherry Fletcher's finish of 11.20. Her second place finish means she is a 2007 NCAA All-American. She will try to win her first NCAA Championship Saturday in the 200 meters.

Diggs earned All-American status at his first outdoor championship after finishing eighth in the high jump competition. Diggs cleared a personal best 2.20m/7-02.50. His clearance ranks as the fifth best jump in school history tied with teammate senior Tristian Whitley and former Cougar Nicker Decker.

Diggs matched his finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships in February when he earned All-American status for his eighth place finish in the same event.

Floyd will conclude the weekend running in the 200 meter finals on Saturday at 12:58 p.m. The final day of the meet will air live on CBS from noon to 2 p.m.

SOUTHERN MISS
Senior long jumper Tanika Liburd failed to place in the top eight performers in the finals of the long jump competition, recording a jump of 5.80m (19-0.50) and finishing in 11-place.

Junior Hana Prudilova failed to advance to the finals of the javelin with a throw of 42.75m (140-3).

Ashley Reyer placed 19th overall after two days of competition in the heptathlon, scoring 5,283 points.

Cornelius Duncan just missed advancing to the finals, finishing sixth in his heat and 10th overall with a time of 46.20.

SMU
Gaelle Niare placed fourth at the conclusion of the seven-event heptathlon Friday with a total of 5,797 points, setting a Mustang school record in that event. The previous record was 5,712 points by Sabine Krieger in 1995. Winning this year's heptathlon was Arizona State's Jaquelyn Johnson, scoring 5,984 points.

With her fourth-place finish, Niare earns All-America status as well as five points for SMU.

Niare tied for 12th in the long jump with a mark of 5.92 meters. In the javelin, Niare finished in 24th place with a throw of 30.37 meters. In the 800-meter run, she placed 15th with a time of 2:21.87.

TULANE
Senior sprinter Gloria Asmunu, placed ninth overall in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.57. The 100-meter Mideast Regional Champion will also compete in Saturday's 200m National Championship final.

Asumnu, who owns the school record in the event with an 11.27 time to win the NCAA Mideast Regional two weeks ago, will compete Saturday in the 200-meter dash final. The 200m for the National Championship will air on CBS at with coverage beginning at noon central. The event will be run just before air-time with coverage tape-delayed. The senior from Houston, Texas, is one of four sprinters in the country to make the finals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Asumnu was pulling triple duty at the Championship, anchoring the 4x100-meter relay team which finished 14th in the nation in Wednesday's action.

TULSA
Junior Alex Becker earned All-America honors in the 5,000m, while Edwin Henshaw posted a 14th place finish in the men's side.

Becker turned in a time of 16:00.34 to finish seventh in the 5,000m and earn her second All-American honor after matching the feat at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this season. Her time sets a new school record in the event as she becomes the first TU athlete to sweep All-American honors during the indoor and outdoor championships.

Henshaw posted a 14:08.59 to earn a 14th place finish in the final of the men's 5,000m. Henshaw challenged his current school record time, but fell just short.

UTEP
UTEP's Alex van der Merwe placed 12th in the javelin final Friday. Van der Merwe, who was 12th last year, had throws of 199-6 (60.81) and 192-2 (58.58). He fouled on his third and final throw. He had the fourth-best throw of 227-0 (69.19) in the qualifying round on Wednesday.

All-American Nelly Tchayem missed qualifying for the final of the triple jump by a half inch. She marked jumps of 41-6 (12.65), 41-10 3/4 (12.77) and 42-10 1/4 (13.06).

With her final jump, Tchayem looked to be into the final, but was passed by April Williams of Toledo (43-3; 13.18) and Patricia Mamona of Clemson (43-0 1/4; 13.11) on their final attempt to push her to 13th place.

Saturday, UTEP will have Erma Gene Evans competing in the javelin final (11 a.m. MST), Elias Koech in the men's 800-meter run (11:19 a.m. MST) and Fatimoh Muhammed in the women's 800 (11:28 a.m. MST). The meet is televised live on CBS.