University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Conference USA Championships
Houston Men Repeat as C-USA Indoor Champions
2/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Feb. 28, 2004
For the second consecutive year and sixth time since joining the league in 1997, the University of Houston men's team claimed the indoor title, while the women battled down the stretch in placing third at the 2004 Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championship hosted by Houston Feb. 27-28 at the Yeoman Field House on the UH campus.
En route to repeating, the Houston men set a new league mark in the championship with a total of 181 team points, an 82-point advantage over second-place TCU (99) and a 92-point advantage over third-place Marquette (89). Meanwhile, the Houston women, who won the title in 2003, finished in third place behind TCU (125 points) and USF (97.50 points) with 92 total points.
Following the conclusion of the meet, Cougar head coach Leroy Burrell was named C-USA Coach of the Year for the men's team, and junior sprinter Stanford Routt, who set NCAA-provisional marks in every race - 60-meters or 200-meters - this indoor season, was named C-USA Male Athlete of the Year.
For Burrell, the award was his second straight and fourth overall for the men. He was named Coach of the Year for both men and women in 2003, and for the women in 2002.
Routt took gold in both the men's 60-meter and 200-meter dashes in record fashion. Conference USA's leading time heading into the finals, he beat out 2003 60-meter champion, Jabari Beauford (TCU) down the stretch with an NCAA-provisional time of 6.66 seconds. Then, just four races later, Routt ran the best 200-meter race of his career, setting a new meet record and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championship with a finish time of 21.09 seconds.
Other top performers for the Cougars included Ron Veillon, who took the men's heptathlon for the second straight year with a career-best 5373 total points, provisionally qualifying him for the NCAA Championship. Fellow Cougar Eric Matcek came from behind with solid marks in the hurdles, pole vault and 1,000-meter run to take second place in the heptathlon.
Sophomore distance runner Sesar Figueroa, who entered the C-USA meet with the second-best time in the mile, overcame favorite Jackson Langat of TCU in the final 60 meters of the race to claim the mile with a career-best finish of 4:11.16. It was the best time for a Cougar in the mile since the 2002 indoor season. Figueroa also placed third in the men's 3000-meter run.
Hurdler Andrew Carruthers set a new meet record and a career best of 7.93 seconds en route to winning the men's 60-meter hurdles race. Fellow hurlder Milton Manson took second (8.03 seconds) while Ronald Broadnax rounded out the Cougar scorers in the race with four points in the five spot (8.25 seconds).
In the field events, Houston swept the four top spots in the men's pole vault, with Daniel Patton claiming the title for the third consecutive year and equaling his season-best of 4.90 meters (16-0.75 ft.), followed by Alex Cantu (4.90m), Ron Veillon (4.75m) and Jason Myers (4.75m). Vincent Marshall won the men's triple jump with a best of 15.09 meters (49-06.25 ft.), while Jason Edwards finished fifth (14.45/47-05.00 ft.).
For the Cougar women, freshman Caresir Hamilton placed fifth in the high jump with a best of 1.68 meters (5-06.00 ft.), while sprinter Alicia Cave took second in the 60-meter hurdles with a finish time of 8.40 seconds to provisionally qualify her for the NCAA Championship. Renee Clark took the bronze in the women's 400-meter dash with a season-best finish time of 56.68 seconds
Four Cougars earned spots among the C-USA top performers in the meet for most points earned, including Routt, who led the league with 20 total points, followed by Figeruoa (17 pts.), Veillon (16 pts.) and Edwards (12 pts.).
Overall, the Houston men and women combined to claim 2004 champion status in seven events.
Next up for the Cougars is the 2004 indoor season is the NCAA Qualifier meet hosted by Iowa State in Ames, Iowa, on March 6, followed by the NCAA Indoor Championships hosted by Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., March 12-13.
The 2004 outdoor season gets underway March 18-19 with Houston traveling to College Station, Texas, to compete in the Texas A&M Multi's.
Players Mentioned
