Hurricane Set to Compete in Conference USA Championship
5/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 9, 2007
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa's track and field program will now turn its attention to the Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Houston, Texas, this weekend. The three-day event is slated for Thursday-Saturday, May 10-12, at the Rice Track Stadium on the campus of Rice University.
Rickey Wilson is the only Hurricane that will be defending a conference championship, having won both the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles in Tulsa's first appearance at the C-USA meet.
Tulsa will look to improve on its 2006 finish, where the women finished in a tie for fifth with 74 points and the men finished in sixth with 57 points.
The men's squad enters the meet with one runner atop the conference performance list, and find themselves in the top-five of eight other events.
Wilson's time of 14.19 sets him stop the C-USA best list in the 110m hurdles, while his 53.76 in the 400m hurdles is good for fourth.
Edwin Henshaw currently sits in third in the 5,000m with a mark of 14:07.88, while his 3:48.71 in the 1,500m ranks fourth. Fellow distance runner Joel Stansloski finds himself ranked fourth in both the 3,000m steeple chase and the 10,000m run. Eric Harris joins Stansloski in the 10,000m, ranking right behind him in fifth.
The 4x400m relay team of O'Dell Smith, Jerrod Landress, Kris Karnes and Atilla Keresi hold the fifth best time in C-USA with a 3:18.19.
Kyle McGillen leads the Hurricane in the field events, currently ranked fourth in the long jump with a leap of 22-11.0 and fifth in the high jump with a height of 6-8.0.
On the women's side, TU enters with one top time in the conference and nine total top-five marks.
Alex Becker paces the competition in the 5,000m with a run of 16:04.67, while also holding the second best mark in the 1,500m with a time of 4:22.39.
April Montgomery and Dawn Nagazina each carry a second place ranking, with Montgomery posting a 1:00.01 in the 400m hurdles, while Nagazina holds a 2:09.69 in the 800m.
In the 3,000m steeple chase, Ashlea Gilfillan currently holds fourth with her school-record time of 10:47.42.
Shameka Holloway currently sits in fifth in the 400m with a time of 54.52, and also joins with Chantelle Willard, Nagazina and Montgomery to hold the fifth best C-USA time in the 4x400m relay with a mark of 3:43.27.
In the field events, Stephanie Jeffers set the bar with the second best throw in the shot put of 52-6.75.
Katy McGillen holds third in the javelin with a toss of 155-8, while Caitlin Clancy currently sits in fourth in the pole vault with her school-record mark of 11-9.75.
Last season, the UTEP men came away with its first C-USA outdoor track and field championship with a 3.5-point advantage over Houston in El Paso, Texas. Houston women won its sixth outdoor crown with 125 points.
Thursday's events will feature the heptathlon and decathlon at 9 a.m. as well as the men's and women's hammer throws and concluding the day will be the 10,000-meter runs at 8 p.m.
Friday's running events get underway at 5:30 p.m. with the men's 1500-meters and wraps up with the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase at 8:50 p.m. The majority of Friday's events are preliminary races, building up to Saturday's championship races starting at 6 p.m.
All session championship tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth, while single session tickets are $10 and $5. C-USA students with a valid I.D. are admitted free.
