March 12, 2010
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Conference USA had seven athletes competing in the opening day of the 2010 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, with four earning All-America honors after finishing among the top eight in their respective events. The two-day championships are taking place inside the Randall Tyson Track Center on the campus of The University of Arkansas.
UTEP’s Blessing Okagbare earned her sixth All-America honor after winning the long jump title. The Sapele, Nigeria native reached a mark of 6.87-meters (22-06.50) to break the meet’s eight-year record set by Auburn’s Elva Goulbourne (6.81m/22-04.25) in 2002 and becomes the second female in C-USA history to win an indoor championship and the 12th at UTEP. Okagbare also competed in the women’s 60m dash posting the fastest time of 7.24 to advance to the finals tomorrow.
Jason Colwick of Rice was unable to capture a second consecutive national title in the pole vault as the senior came up short to finish second with a vault of 5.50m (18-00.50). The All-America honoree passed on the first four heights and entered competition at the 5.50m mark. Colwick cleared on his first attempt before failing to clear the next two heights.
Tulsa’s Alex Becker captured her second indoor All-America honor in the women’s 5,000m run when she clocked a fifth-place time of 15:58.53. The senior distance runner now prepares for the finals of the 3,000m Saturday.
Rounding out C-USA All-America honorees is Houston’s Kalyn Floyd. The sophomore sprinter clocked a time of 23.41 to improve her time by .04 from the prelims (23.45) and finish sixth in the finals.
The jumping duo of East Carolina freshman Tynita Butts and sophomore Ke’Airra Jones of Southern Miss duplicated their performance at the C-USA Championships by finishing in a tie. The pair tied for 10th in the event after clearing a height of 1.78m (5-10). UCF’s Jackie Coward completed the C-USA roster for day one action as the sophomore turned in an 8.29 in the prelims of the 60m hurdles to finish 14th.
Day two of the Championships will open with the men’s heptathlon at 11 a.m. CT. Memphis’ Steffen Nerdal and Dimitrios Fylladitakis of UTEP are scheduled to compete in the men’s weight throw at 2 p.m., while SMU’s Simone du Toit will take the field in the women’s shot put at 4:30 p.m. Okagbare will run in the 60m dash at 7:25 p.m. and Becker is set to run in the 3,000m at 8:10 p.m.
For more information and live results visit http://flashresults.com/2010_Meets/indoor/NCAA/.
C-USA’s 2010 NCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
FINALS
Long Jump
1. Blessing Okagbare, Sr., UTEP (6.87m/22-06.50)
Pole Vault
2. Jason Colwick, Sr., Rice (5.50m/18-00.50)
5,000m
5. Alex Becker, Sr., Tulsa (15:58.53)
60m Dash
6. Kalyn Floyd, Jr., Houston (23.41)
High Jump
10. Tynita Butts, Fr., East Carolina (1.78m/5-10)
10. Ke’Airra Jones, So., Southern Miss (1.78m/5-10)
PRELIMS
60m Hurdles
14. Jackie Coward, So., UCF (8.29)
60m
1. Blessing Okagbare, Sr., UTEP (7.24)
200m
8. Kalyn Floyd, Jr., Houston (23.45)
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