Feb. 24, 2006

HOUTSTON, Texas -- - A pair of Conference USA newcomers made their presence felt in day one action at the 2006 Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Yeoman Fieldhouse on the University of Houston campus. UTEP leads the men's team standings, while Rice holds the top spot in the women's standings after six events with scores of 48 and 51, respectively. Host Houston stands in second place in both standings after day one, trailing the Miners on the men's side by 17 points and the Owls on the women's side by 16.50 points.

In preliminary racing, in the 60-meter hurdles, Racquel Washington, who had the seventh best time in the country entering the championship, easily won the prelims with a time of 8.34.

Rice won two of the four heats in the women's 60-meter dash prelims, while UTEP's Oludamola Osayomi had the best time winning heat No. 3 in 7.43. Tanika Liburd, who earlier won the long jump, had the second best time, taking top honors in heat No. 1 with a time of 7.45. The Owls' Desarie Walwyn and Nina Mayes each turned in times of 7.47 to win heats No. 2 and No. 4, respectively. Washington also advanced to the finals of the 60-meter dash, posting a time of 7.54.

Liburd won the first event title for the Southern Miss women, taking the long jump with a leap of 20-05.75". Teammate Angela Johnson finished fifth with a jump of 18'10.75". Rice's Funmi Jimoh soared to a second-place finish with a mark of 20-00.50", while UCF's Diana Chin tallied third with a 19-01.25".

In the first scoring event for the men, East Carolina's Eric Frasure successfully defended his title in the 35-pound weight throw with a winning toss of 68-00.25". Frasure's best throw came on his last attempt, but the senior had the competition won after his first throw of 65-11.75". Southern Miss' Marcus Brown finished fourth with a throw of 61'11.75".

In the pentathlon, Southern Miss' Ashley Reyer finished second overall with 3,735. Reyer won the high jump with a clearance of 5-05.75" and cruised to victory in the 800 meters (2:22.87), but needed to beat Houston' Rachel Easley by more than 22 seconds to win the competition.

Cornelius Duncan advanced to the finals of the 400 meter dash after posting a time of 49.74 in his heat. Ahmed Abdelzaher finished fifth in the high jump with a jump 6'6.25". Teammates David Clyburn and Steven Green finished sixth and seventh, respectively, jumping 6'4.25" each. Robert Johnson finished fourth in the long jump with a jump of 22'2.50".

Team Results (Through Day One) Women's 1. Rice (51) 2. Houston (34.50) 3. UCF (27) 4. Tulsa (26) 5. Southern Miss (25) 6. UTEP (19) 7. SMU (18) 8. UAB (12) 9. East Carolina (10.50) 10. Memphis (8) 11. Marshall (3) 12. Tulane (0)

Men's 1. UTEP (48) 2. Houston (31) 3. Rice (30) 4. Southern Miss (26) 5. East Carolina (25) 6. Memphis (20) 7. Tulsa (12)