University of Houston Athletics
Houston Travels To NCAA Midwest Regional Outdoor Track and Field Championships
5/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 30, 2003
The University of Houston men's and women's track and field teams will travel to Lincoln, Neb., and compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional Track and Field Championships on May 30-31. The Midwest Regional is one of four NCAA Regional Championships. The East Regional will be in Fairfax, Va., and hosted by George Mason University. The Mid-East Region is in Columbus, Ohio and hosted by Ohio State, while the West Region is in Palo Alto, Calif. and hosted by Stanford.
The top five finishers in each individual event and top three relay teams at Regional will qualify to compete in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif. on June 11-14. The NCAA will complete the field for the Outdoor Championships using the descending order list.
The two-day meet will not include the decathlon, heptathlon and the men's and women's 10,000-meter runs. Those events will continue to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships by meeting predetermined standards, just as before this season.
NCAA Regional Qualifiers
Houston has a combined 30 men's and women's athletes trying to earn a ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In the men's division, Houston's qualifiers include All-American Robert Foster and Fred Day in the 100-meter dash, Stanford Routt and Foster in the 200-meter dash, Andrew Carruthers in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles, Milton Manson in the 110-meter hurdles.
In addition, Brandon Womack, Day, Preston Perry, and Foster have qualified to compete in the 4x100-meter relay, while Michael Francis, Routt, Nick Garza and Justin Schrock will run in the 4x400-meter relay.
Houston's competitors in the field events include: Alex Cantu and Daniel Patton in the pole vault; Brandon Bray and Jason Edwards in the long jump and Derek Randall in the discus throw.
In the women's division, Conference USA Freshman-of-the-Year Ebonie Floyd will run in the 200 and 400 meters, while Aisha Morgan will compete in the 100-meter dash. Courtnie Ratliff and Keisha Howard will join Floyd in the 400 meters, while Crystal Freeman runs in the 800 meters and Terie Littlepage is in the steeplechase. Alicia Cave is a qualifier in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles. Lauren Smith and Magenta Taylor will join her in the 100-meter hurdles.
Smith, Ratliff, Howard and Floyd will compete in the 4x100-meter relay race, while Floyd, Howard, Renee Clarke, and Ratliff are scheduled to run in the 4x400-meter relay.
Houston's entries in the field events are Jessica Edwards in the pole vault, Ashley George in the long jump, Tinisha Wesley in the shot put, Allie Booker in the discus and Shayla Bowman in the hammer throw.
Bassler Provisionally Qualifies for NCAA Championships With Heptathlon Victory
Senior Briana Bassler provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships when she won the women's heptathlon at the Conference USA Championships with a score of 5,129 points. She recorded personal bests in each of the three running events, including a six-second improvement in the final event, the 800-meter dash to clinch the victory. Her score ranks 32nd among the national leaders this season.
Bassler's victory came after a third-place finish in the heptathlon at the 2002 C-USA Championships at Louisville. She also recorded two fourth-place finishes at the C-USA meet in 2000 and 2001.
Houston Men and Women Are Runners-Up At The Conference USA Championships
Houston's men's and women's track and field teams both were the silver medallists at the 2003 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. TCU won its second straight C-USA Men's Outdoor title by outscoring the Cougars, 142-132.5. South Florida won its first C-USA Women's Outdoor Championship as the Bulls outscored the Lady Cougars, 147-138.5.
The Cougars won five individual championships and one relay event at the C-USA meet. Alicia Cave won the 100-meter hurdles for the second straight year with a time of 13.47 seconds. Ebony Floyd won the 400 meters with a time of 52.16 seconds and Briana Bassler won the heptathlon with a career-best 5,129 points.
In the men's division, Andrew Carruthers won his second straight 400-meter hurdles title with a time of 51.26 seconds and Ron Veillon won the decathlon with 6,773 points. Houston also won the men's 4x100-meter relay with a time of 39.52 seconds.
Floyd Named C-USA Freshman of the Year
Ebonie Floyd was named the C-USA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Freshman-of-the-Year after winning the 400 meters in a meet record time of 52.16 seconds and recording a third-place finish in the 200-meters. She also ran the first leg of Houston's 4x100-meter relay team that finished in second place with a time of 44.98 seconds.
Floyd also was the C-USA Women's Indoor Track and Field Freshman-of-the-Year after winning the 200 and 400-meter titles.
Players Mentioned
