May 14, 2006

El Paso, Texas - The University of Houston men's and women's track and field teams found themselves in identical situations as they entered the final event of the 2006 Conference USA Championships at Kipp Field in El Paso on May 14.

Both teams were 1 ½ points away from winning the C-USA team championships for the second straight year after winning both titles at the 2005 meet in Houston. The women's team trailed Rice, 106.5-105 team points. The men's team trailed the host school, UTEP, 212-210.5 points.

"It was track and field at its very best," Houston head coach Leroy Burrell said. "I have never been at any meet like this one."

In the women's 4x400-meter relay race, Keisha Howard, LaDedra Guy, Octavia Garrett and Ebonie Floyd combined to win the women's race in 3:35.31. UTEP finished second with a time of 3:39.27, while Rice finished in eighth place with a time of 3:51.32.

The win in the relay gave the women's team their third-straight C-USA Outdoor Championship with 125 points. UTEP finished in second place with 109 points and Rice was third with 108.5 points.

After leading Houston to the championship, Burrell was named the C-USA Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three years and fourth time overall.

"Our women's team really survived this meet," Burrell said. "We stumbled in some areas, but Rachel Easley, Ebonie Floyd, LaDedra Guy and Caresir Hamilton performed really well and kept us in it until we got to our strengths."

One of those strengths was Floyd, who won both the 100 and 200 meters and ran the anchor legs on both of Houston's relay teams to earn Conference USA Female Performer of the Meet and was the Female High Point Scorer of the Meet. She also set a new C-USA record in the 200 meters during Friday's preliminary heats with the third fastest time in UH school history, 23.01 seconds.

In the men's 4x400-meter relay race, Houston's Kerry LaCour jumped out to an early lead in the first 100 meters of his second leg, but his strained hamstring tightened on the backstretch and he handed out to Justin McQueen in third place. McQueen put the Cougars back in second place on his leg, but Houston trailed by 20 meters when he handed off the baton to Kolee Latson. Latson caught UTEP's Daniel Ward pulled up just before the final turn, giving Latson a chance to get back into the race. Latson and Ward were running stride for stride until the final 30 meters of the race when Ward took the lead for good. UTEP won the race in 3:09.33, giving the Miners the team title with 222 points. Houston ended the race with a time of 3:09.81 and ended the meet with 218.5 team points.

"We gave them everything we had," Burrell said. "I went into the meet knowing it was going to be real close, and we came up just a little short against a team that has the chance of winning a national championship this year. I had hoped that the meet would come down to the 4x400-meter relay. It did, but we just didn't get it done."

The final day of the 2006 C-USA Outdoor Championships began with Amanda Villanueva registering a sixth-place finish in the women's discus with a throw of 43.86 meters (143-11) on her final throw of the day.

Then, Hamilton set a school record on her final attempt to win the triple jump with a leap of 13.22 meters (43-4.50) with a legal wind of 2.0 meters per second. Hamilton edged Simona Costache of Southern Miss, who finished the meet with a wind-aided mark of 12.98 meters (42-7) on her first attempt of the day.

In the men's field events, Jonathan Reeves, who had won the shot put on Friday, finished as the runner-up in the discus with a throw of 56.44 meters (185-2). UTEP's Correy Harrison was the discus champion with a throw of 57.74 meters (189-5).

Tristian Whitley and Ivan Diggs combined for 10 points in the men's high jump as Whitley cleared a season-best 2.16 meters (7-1) to finish in third place, while Diggs was fifth after clearing 2.13 meters (6-11.75).

Houston scored 25.50 team points in the pole vault as Tom Rusteberg won the event after clearing 4.90 meters (16-0.75), Jonathan Gulley cleared a career-best 4.75 meters (15-7) and Kevin Watson tied for fourth place after clearing 4.60 meters (15-1). Jarrett Flax also cleared 4.45 meters (14-7.25) to finish in sixth place, and Nicholas Garza finished in seventh place after clearing 4.30 meters (14-1.25).

Vincent Marshall and Jeremy Kelley also registered seven points in the triple jump as Marshall finished in fifth place with a wind-aided leap of 14.65 meters (48-0.75) and Kelley finished in sixth place with another wind-aided mark of 14.54 meters (47-8.50).

In the running events, both of Houston's 400-meter relay teams finished in second place as Octavia Garrett, Guy, Seun Adigun and Floyd combined for a time of 44.85 seconds in the women's race and Marshall, Preston Perry, Tremaine Smith and Kolee Latson combined for a time of 40.03 seconds in the men's race. Southern Miss was the women's champion in 44.60 seconds and UTEP won the men's race in 39.11 seconds.

Sesar Figueroa pulled off a mild upset in the men's 1500 meters as he finished in third place with a time of 3:48.07 seconds. Pablo Sorales of Rice won the race in 3:44.43 and Mircea Bogdan of UTEP was second in 3:46.93. Figueroa finished ahead of UTEP's

In the 400 meters, Houston's LaCour won his second straight championship with a time of 46.34 seconds despite nursing his hamstring injury.

"I didn't run the well," LaCour said. "I got off to a good start and was running well until the final curve, when I started second guessing myself and worrying about my hamstring. It tightened up on me just a bit in the last 20 meters of the race."

He finished ahead of Ward, who had a time of 46.50 seconds and his teammate Kolee Latson. Latson finished the race with a career-best time of 46.89 seconds.

"I got off to a good start, but my foot began to slip on the back straightaway," Latson said. "When I saw that I couldn't catch Carey and Daniel Ward, I just made sure that no one else would pass me."

In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Seun Adigun and Alexis Rogers finished in second and third place behind Southern Miss' Raquel Washington, who won the race in a wind-aided 13.11 seconds. Adigun had a time of 13.73 seconds and Rogers finished the race in 13.74 seconds.

Floyd won the 100-meter dash with a wind-aided time of 11.13 seconds as she edged Oludamola Osayomi of UTEP by two-thousandths of a second, 11.127-11.129. Guy placed fifth in the race with a time of 11.49 seconds.

In the women's 200-meter final, Floyd edged Osayomi again as she overtook her in the final 100 meters and won going away with a wind-aided time of 22.66 seconds after her C-USA record of 23.01 seconds in the preliminary rounds. Her time in the preliminary rounds also is tied as the fifth fastest time in the nation this year. Osayomi had a wind-aided time of 23.52 seconds in the final, and Houston's LaDedra Guy was third in 23.52 seconds.

"My goal was to get out to a good start and lead after the first 100 meters of the race, but I don't think I accomplished it," Floyd said. "I had a horrible start in my 200 race yesterday, so when I saw her get out well and we were stride for stride in the first 100 meters. Then, I just told myself to get strong, stay relaxed and go get her.

"In the 100-meter race, we both got out to a fast start and were running stride for stride throughout the race. She leaned at the finish line, and I wasn't sure that I beat her until they announced I had won."

Churandy Martina of UTEP broke 10 seconds for the second day in a row in the 100-meter dash, edging Houston's Preston Perry. Martina won the race with a time of 9.76 seconds, but with a wind of +6.l, it is not allowed in the NCAA standings or meet records. Perry had a time of 10.01, and teammate Tremaine Smith finished in fifth place with a time of 10.35 seconds. Smith edged teammate Vincent Marshall, who also had a time of 10.35 seconds.

In the 200 meters, Martina edged Perry again as he set a meet record in 20.33 seconds, while Perry was the runner-up with a career-best 20.56 seconds. Tremaine Smith also finished with the fifth-fastest time with his personal best of 21.18 seconds.

"I got out to a good start, but was kicking myself coming around the curve," Perry said. "Still, I was leading the race until about 50 meters left when he overtook me. Running the 100 as fast as I did took a lot out of me."

Houston also scored seven points in the men's 800 meter run when Chris White finished in fifth place with a 1:54.83, Andy Morris finished in seven place in 2:00.05 and Figueroa finished in eighth place with 2:01.14.

Cole Dailey scored four points for the second time in the meet with a fifth-place finish in the men's 5,000 meters with a time of 15:07.82. He finished behind UTEP's Bogdan, Stephen Samoei, Japheth Ng'Ojoy and Patrick Mutai, who combined to score 29 points for the Miners and set up the final race of the meet.

Houston will next compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on May 26-27 in Austin, Texas.