University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
American Athletic Conference Championships
Anderson-Kaapa Breaks The American 800m Record
5/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Storrs, Conn - Senior distance runner Drevan Anderson-Kaapa broke the meet record after qualifying with the fastest time in the 800m and the men's and women's track and field teams qualified a total of eight runners for Sunday's finals as the Cougars wrapped up the second day of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday in Storrs, Conn.
Anderson-Kaapa led almost from start-to-finish to turn in a time of 1:50.20 and claim the top spot in the 800m qualifying. The Killeen, Texas native broke the record of 1:50.21 set by LaForrest Church of Memphis last season.
Senior Anthony Coleman also qualified for the finals of the 800m run after finishing with the eighth fastest qualifying time of 1:52.01. Heading into the weekend Houston only had one time (Anderson-Kaapa) in the top-8 in the conference, so Houston stands to pick up big points after qualifying two for Sunday's finals.
Senior thrower Justine Price went out in a big way for the Cougar women in her final conference championship meet after launching a 48.94m throw in her fifth attempt to finish second. Price became the first Cougar to earn All-American Athletic Conference Outdoor Team honors this season.
Freshman Ebony White became the first Houston woman to qualify for the finals after clocking the seventh fastest qualifying time in the 800m run. White ran 2:09.79, and will look to score points for Houston on Sunday, in her first outdoor conference meet.
In the hurdles, Senior Sade-Mariah Greenidge kept the momentum going for the Cougars after winning her heat of the 400m hurdles in 1:00.12. Last year's runner up in the event, Greenidge qualified with the second fastest time on Friday.
Houston had a big day in the 200m when the men and women qualified a combined four sprinters for Sunday's final. Tori Williams ran a 23.93 to grab the final qualifying spot for the women while Curtis Brown (21.36, second), LeShon Collins (21.62, fourth), and Issac Williams (21.57, eighth) qualified for the men. Brown and Collins earned automatic qualifiers by finishing first in their heats, while Williams turned in one of the top four times from non-heat winners.
In the multi events, senior Angelica Thompson and freshman Bailee Logsdon turned in sixth and seventh place finishes respectively to score the Cougar women's first points of the meet. Thompson used a third place finish in the javelin to help her to 4,887 points, while Logsdon finished just a point shy of her teammate at 4,886 points. Logsdon's top performance on the day came with a second place finish in the long jump after leaping 5.59m.
Freshman discus thrower Zach Oliva scored the Cougar men's first points of the day after an eighth place finish in his first conference meet. Oliva threw 47.04m (154'4") to score points in the only men's field competition of the day.
Day three of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships begins at 8:30 a.m. CT on Saturday, May 16 with the men's javelin. The finals of the men's and women's long jump, women's javelin, and men's pole vault and high jump will also be contested on Saturday.
Qualifying rounds for four more events will be held on Saturday beginning with the women's and men's 1500m preliminary rounds at 1:30 p.m. CT. Following the 1500m, will be the women's and men's 100m and 110m hurdles at 2 p.m., the women's and men's 400m dash at 2:30 p.m., and the women's and men's 100m dash at 3 p.m.
The finals of the women's and men's 3000m steeplechase will wrap up the third day of action and will start at 3:30 p.m. CT.
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
Live results for the third day of the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships can be found by clicking here.
Fans wishing to watch live video can do so courtesy of the American Digital Network, and the feed can be found by clicking here.
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