University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Houston Indoor Classic
Houston Men Claim Indoor Classic; Women Place Third
2/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Feb. 1, 2003
The University of Houston Track and Field team hosted the Houston Indoor Classic, its third straight indoor meet of the 2003 season, on Saturday (Feb. 1) afternoon at the Yeoman Field House inside the Athletics/Alumni Center with the Cougar men claiming their second-straight first-place finish and the women placing third in a field of 12 teams.
Among the schools competing in the meet included Baylor (men), Rice (women), Southern-Baton Rouge, Southwest Texas, Texas (Women), Sam Houston, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Lutheran (women), Texas Southern, Tulane, UT-Arlington, UT-Pan American and UT-San Antonio (men).
Thanks to the Houston's strong showing in both the men's 60-meter and 200-meter dashes, the Cougars sailed to an easy 28-point victory over their nearest competitor, Texas, with a 101.5 point finish. The Cougars' Preston Perry, who last week finished in second place at the Houston Indoor Opener, claimed his first win of the indoor season in the 200-meter dash in a season-best time of 21.80 seconds. Fred Day followed Perry in second place in the 200 with a time of 22.28 seconds.
In the 60-meter dash, Brandon Womack took the crown in crossing the finish line in a season-best 6.83 seconds, followed by Day in second (6.84 seconds).
On other running events, Nicholas Garza and Dameon Williams each earned Houston points in the 400-meter dash with a third (49.87 seconds) and fifth (50.22 seconds) finishes, respectively, while Tom Harper placed fourth in the 800-meter run with a finish time of 1:57.11. In the mile run, Mike Olague came in second behind Sam Houston's Joe Amburn with a time of 4:18.91, and freshman Sesar Figueroa earned a point with his seventh-place, 4:24.29 finish.
In the field events, Brandon Bray (7.08 meters) and Brandon Womack(6.95 meters) placed third and fourth, respectively, in the men's long jump, and Gene Tennison placed second with a season-best shot throw of 15.94 meters in the shot put.
For the Houston women, who improved significantly over their seventh-place finish in last week's Houston Indoor Opener, sprinters Lauren Smith and Aisha Morgan had strong finishes in the 200-meter dash, placing second and third, respectively, with times of 24.93 seconds for Smith and 25.15 for Morgan. Ebonie Floyd earned six points for her fourth-place finish in 55.02 seconds in the 400-meter dash, while hurdlers Alicia Cave and Magenta Taylor rounded out seconds and third place in the 60-meter hurdles. Cave posted a season-best time of 8.61 seconds. In addition to the sprints, Jessie Oakes took third with a time of 10:27.96 in the 3000-meter run, and Heather Howse, running the 5000 for the first time this season, earned Houston two points for her fifth-place finish in 18:43.98.
In the field events, Krystal Ward won the women's high jump with a Cougars' season-best jump of 1.70 meters, followed by Brianna Bassler, who jumped a season-high 1.65 meters for a fourth-place finish. For the second straight week Lady Cougars Shayla Bowmam and Allie Booker each recorded points for Houston in the weight throw, finishing second and fifth, respectively. Bowman, who threw 15.79 meters last weekend, improved this week with a throw of 15.85 meters, while Booker followed with a season-best 14.30 meters. Tinisha Wesley earned a third-place finish in the shot put with a season-best throw of 13.19 meters.
The meet was the third of six indoor meets that Houston hosts this season. The Cougars host the Houston Indoor Invitational next weekend on Saturday, February 8, and the UH/RunSport All-Comers Meet the following weekend on Saturday, February 15, before hosting the annual Conference USA Indoor Championships on February 28-March 1.
