May 13, 2006

Final Stats

El Paso, Texas - John Reeves won the men's shot put and three other Cougars registered second-place finishes to push the University of Houston men's track and field team into the lead through the second day at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships.

Reeves equaled his career-best of 18.44 meters (60-6) in what he described as "perfect conditions" to win the shot put.

"I had coaches and teammates cheering for me, and the weather wasn't too hot and the wind was ideal today," Reeves said. "I came onto the track today ready to give it my all. These conditions really helped me to do that."

Reeves will be looking to defend his 2005 C-USA discus title on Saturday.

In addition to Reeves winning the shot put, Lucas Mireles also finished in fourth place with a mark of 16.51 meters (54-2) as he and Reeves combined to score 14 points in the team standings for the Cougars.

Houston began the day scoring 22 points in the decathlon as the Cougars had four of the top six competitors. Jarrett Flax scored eight team points with a second-place score of 6,955 points. Nicholas Garza finished in third place with 6,847 points, while Morgan Floyd was fourth with 6,820 points and Eric Matcek finished in sixth place with 4,519 points.

Vincent Marshall scored eight more points with a second-place finish in the men's long jump after recording a wind-aided leap of 7.66 meters (25-01.75). He also advanced to the finals in the 100 meters on Saturday after winning the first heat of the preliminary rounds with a wind-aided time of 10.37 seconds. His time qualifies him to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships.

Houston registered 17 additional points in the men's javelin throw. Morgan Floyd scored eight points with a second-place and personal best throw of 57.16 meters (187-6). Andy Tackett added six points when he finished in third place with a throw of 56.08 meters (184-0). Houston's other three points in the javelin came from Jarrett Flax's sixth-place throw of 51.98 meters (170-6).

The Cougars' final seven points came in the steeplechase, where Calum Neff netted five points with a fourth-place time of 9:43.84 and Paul Goodwin added two more points when he finished in seventh place with a season-best time of 10:03.78.

UH ended the second day with 80 points to lead in the men's team standings. UTEP is second with 62 points and Rice is in third place with 36 points.

Houston also climbed into second place in the women's team standings on the second day.

The Cougars began the day with nine points in the heptathlon as Rachel Easley scored eight points with a second-place score of 5,294 points. Kerri LaCour added another point when she finished in eighth place with 3.773 points.

In the women's pole vault, Danielle Aanerud, Christa Coppin and Ashley Ligon combined for 12.5 points in the team standings. Aanerud cleared a career-best 3.65 meters (11-11.75) to tie for second place and score seven points. Coppin added five more with a fourth-place clearance of 3.50 meters (11-5.75). Ligon scored ½ of a point with a tie for eighth place after she cleared 3.35 meters (10-11.75).

Easley returned to score five points in two other field events. She tallied four points in the women's long jump after registering a career-best leap of 6.05 meters (19-10.25). Her jump qualifies her to compete in the long jump at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships. Easley ended her day scoring another point after clearing 1.65 meters (5-5) in her first attempt in the high jump.

Junior Caresir Hamilton scored 5.5 points in the high and long jumps. Hamilton scored 2.5 points in the high jump when she tied for sixth place after clearing 1.70 meters (5-7). Hamilton scored another three points with another sixth place showing in the long jump with a leap of 5.97 meters (19-7). Her mark in the long jump also qualifies Hamilton to compete at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships.

All-America heptathlete Krystal Ward scored eight points in the high jump when she finished in second place after clearing a career-best 1.81 meters (5-11.25).

The women's team ended the second day with 40 points and is in second place, 5.5 points behind Rice in the team standings. Memphis is in third place with 36 points and UAB has a fourth-place score of 35 points.

Houston's Oumama Hallal began the running events qualifying for the Saturday's final in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:52.25.

The Cougars' freshman trio of Alexis Rogers, Seun Adigun and Lee Andrea Robinson advanced to the finals in the 100-meter hurdles. Rogers had the second-fastest qualifying time and her fastest legal time of the year with 13.89 seconds. Adigun posted her second-fastest time of the year and the third-fastest qualifying time with 13.92 seconds. Robinson had the seventh-fastest qualifying time with 14.54 seconds.

Kendal Daughtry qualified for the finals in the men's 110-meter hurdles with the seventh fastest time and his career-best time of 15.22 seconds. Neal McCarty just missed advancing to the finals as he finished with a time of 15.56 seconds, the ninth-fastest time. In the women's 400 meters, Octavia Garrett, Keisha Howard and Tiffany Abney advanced to Saturday's final. Garrett won the third heat in 55.60 seconds, while Howard had a non-winning time of 54.33 seconds and Abney had the eighth-best time in 56 seconds.

In the men's 400-meters, defending champion Carey LaCour won the first heat in 48.33 seconds to automatically qualify for the finals on Saturday. Kolee Latson had the fastest non-winning time of 47.00 seconds to also advance to the finals.

In the women's 100 meters, Ebonie Floyd won the first heat with a time of 11.34 seconds. It is Floyd's second 100-meter race in her collegiate career after she won the 100 meters at the Houston Invitational last weekend with the nation's ninth-fastest time of 11.29 seconds. LaDedra Guy also qualified for the 100-meter final with a season-best time of 11.55 seconds.

Joining Marshall in the 100-meter final will be Preston Perry and Tremaine Smith. Perry finished with the second-fastest overall time of 10.27 seconds and Smith had the eighth-best time of 10.54 seconds. Marshall's time qualifies him for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships.

Jennifer Harper advanced to the finals of the women's 800 meters with a time of 2:14.35.

In the men's 800 meter run, Sesar Figueroa, Andy Morris and Chris White qualified for the finals in the 800 meters as Figueroa had the fifth-fastest time of 1:51.81, Morris was sixth in 1:53.31 and White was seventh in 1:53.70.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Sam Fobbs, Kendal Daughtry and Neal McCarty qualified for the finals as Fobbs finish in fourth place with a time of 55.39 seconds, Daughtry finished in a fifth-place time of 57.91 seconds and McCarty had the seventh-fastest time in 58.85 seconds.

Floyd and Guy also advanced to the finals of the women's 200-meter dash as Floyd won the fourth and final heat with a career-best time of 23.01 seconds, and Guy won the third heat with a season-best time of 23.80 seconds. Floyd's time ties her with Chauntae Bayne of Stanford for fifth place nationally.

The Cougars also had two sprinters advance in the men's 200 meters as Preston Perry won the second heat with the fastest time of 20.67 seconds and Tremaine Smith had a time of 21.17 seconds.

The running events begin with the men and women's 400-meter relay races at 5:00 p.m. (Mountain). The field events begin at 1:00 p.m. and include the men's and women's discus throws, men's high jump, men's pole vault, along with the men's and women's triple jumps.