May 8, 2002

The TCU Flyin' Frogs are set to compete in their first-ever Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held this weekend at CardinalPark in Louisville, Ky.

On the men's side, TCU captured the indoor conference meet in February, but, with a number of injuries to key athletes, will be hard-pressed to duplicate the feat in Louisville, according to TCU Head Coach Monte Stratton.

"We'll take those who are not injured and do as well as we can," said Stratton. "With the injuries to Steve Slowly, Eliud Njubi, David Spencer and Kendall Pyant, we're leaving a lot of points in Fort Worth. We'll have to go with those capable of competing and see what happens."

Stratton expects the biggest competition on the men's side to come from Houston, Cincinnati and Charlotte, while Houston and South Florida appear to be the favorites on the women's side.

"I think our women can finish in the middle to upper part of the pack, as they did during the indoor season," said Stratton.

The TCU women finished fifth among the 13 teams competing at the indoor championships earlier this year.

Competition gets underway on Thursday with the women's heptathlon, men's decathlon, hammer throw and 10,000-meter run.

Trackwire Men's Top 25 (May 7, 2002)

1. Tennessee 91

2. LSU 86

3. Arkansas 39

4. SMU 31

5. Nebraska 30

6. UCLA 26

7. Colorado 24

8. Stanford 23

9. Florida 22

10. Georgia 20

UTEP 20

Alabama 20

13. Mississippi State 19

Clemson 19

South Carolina 19

16. TCU 17

17. Texas 15

18. Baylor 14

Notre Dame 14

Kansas 14

21. Eastern Michigan 13

Auburn 13

23. BYU 11

22. Oregon 10

USC 10

Princeton 10

Missouri 10