Jan. 17, 2002

Houston, Texas - The University of Houston men's and women's track and field teams will host the Houston Indoor Invitational inside the Bill Yeoman Field House on Saturday, January 19.

Houston will be competing against teams from Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern State, Prairie View A&M, Rice, South Alabama, SMU, Southern, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, TCU, Texas Southern, Texas-Arlington, Texas-Pan American, and Texas-San Antonio.

The field events will begin with the men's long jump and women's weight throw at 9:00 a.m. The running events will start at noon with the women's 5,000 meters.

Cougar Track and Field Update
The Cougars opened their indoor schedule with a fourth-place finish at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Indoor Meet on Friday, January 11. The Cougars were led by senior decathlete Adam Callahan as he won the high jump with a leap of 6 feet, 9 inches. Freshman Daniel Patton finished in second place in the men's pole vault with a mark of 15 feet, 7 inches. Alex Cantu also finished fourth in the pole vault when he cleared the bar at 15 feet, 1 inch to edge freshman teammate Kevin Watson, who was fifth at the same height.

Two other freshmen recorded fifth place finishes for the Cougars. Andrew Carruthers was fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.18 seconds and Justin Crisp also had a mark of 44 feet, 9 3/4 inches in the shot put.

Junior NCAA qualifier Robert Foster opened the 2002 season with a fourth-place finish in the 60 meters in 6.88 seconds.

Lady Cougar Track and Field Update
Senior All-American Rhian Clarke and freshman Krystal Ward led Lady Cougars to a second-place finish at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Indoor Meet on January 11. Clarke won the women's pole vault and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with a mark of 12 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Sophomore Jessica Edwards also finished fourth in the pole vault with a height of 10 feet, 6 inches. Ward, a freshman from Rusk, Texas, made an impressive debut when she won the women's high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 8 inches and finished seventh in the long jump.

Junior sprinters Brandy Steward and Aisha Morgan had strong finishes as well for the Lady Cougars. Morgan finished second in the 60 meters with a time of 7.60 seconds, while Stewart was fourth in the 200 meters in 26.00 seconds. Alicia Cave also had a third-place time of 8.59 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles in her first collegiate meet.

Upcoming Meets
Houston will travel to Baton Rouge, La., on January 26, where both teams will compete in the LSU Invitational. Houston returns to the Bill Yeoman Field House on February 2 for the UH/Runsport All-Comers Meet.