Feb. 23, 2006

HOUSTON - The Thundering Herd track team will travel to the University of Houston for its first Conference USA indoor track and field championship. The meet, taking place at the Yeoman Fieldhouse, will start at 9 a.m. CST on Friday, Feb. 24 and conclude at 5 p.m. CST on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Fifteen Marshall athletes are making the trip to try and upset the defending Houston Cougars for the championship. The Cougars are looking to win their second straight title and fourth in five years.

Sprinting for the Thundering Herd will be Tekisha Martin (Michigan City, Ind.), Breanna Jones (Columbia, S.C.) and Xavier Richards (Kingston, Jamaica). Martin will be the lone runner in the 60m dash, but will have Jones with her in the 60m hurdles and Richards in the 200m. Richards and Jones will run the 400m together. The three sprinters make up three quarters of the 4x400m relay team, Stephanie Eastman (Spencer, W.Va.) fills the fourth spot.

Eastman, Anna Chaney (Huntington, W.Va.), Marian Brooks (Flat Top, W.Va.), Hannah Kovarik (Hurricane, W.Va.) and Stephanie Achilles (Deptford, N.J.) are running distance events for Marshall. Eastman, Achilles and Chaney are all running in the one mile. Chaney's only other event is the 800m and she is the only runner representing Marshall in the race. Brooks and Kovarik are running the 3000m and 5000m.

Jumping for Marshall is Quinnyana Brown (Amherst, N.Y.). Brown will participate in the long jump and the high jump.

Throwing the 20lb weight for the Herd are Stacie Belzer (Glassboro, N.J.), Britani Burke (Proctorville, Ohio), LaTricia Jones (Spartanburg, S.C.) and Jessica Pissini (Hermitage, Pa.). Both Burke and Belzer are in the top 10 performers of C-USA for the event.

L. Jones, Rachel Blankenship (Hurricane, W.Va.) and Pissini are participating in the shot put. L. Jones and Blankenship are amongst the top 10 performers, seventh and eighth, of the event in C-USA and Pissini is positioned at 15th.

Danyell Garner (Logan, W.Va.) will run in the pentathlon during the championship.

Live Stats will be available as they become official at www.conferenceusa.com.