Feb. 27, 2008

IRVING, Texas - The Rice women and Houston men will attempt to repeat as Conference USA champions at the 2008 C-USA Indoor Track and Field Championships held inside the Yeoman Fieldhouse on Friday, Feb. 29 and Saturday, March 1 in Houston.

The University of Houston is set to host the two-day event for the seventh-straight year and the ninth time in the last 12 seasons. The Cougars are the only school to host the Championship at an on-campus site.

Rice tallied 100 points to earn the 2007 women's crown followed by UTEP's 95.5 and Houston's 91 points for third.

Houston men collected 186 points, outdistancing second place UTEP with 130 points. Rice finished third, scoring 90 points.

At this year's event, eight men and seven women will look to defeat their individual crowns in 16 events.

Tulsa senior Alex Becker will attempt to repeat as C-USA champion in the women's mile and 3,000-meters, while Tulane senior Gloria Asumnu established a conference championship record by winning the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.22. Becker and Asumnu have automatically qualified for the 2008 NCAA Championships in the 3000m and 60m, respectively. Asumnu earned All-America honors in the 60m at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Also with an automatic NCAA mark is senior Susan King of Memphis. King owns the nation's third best performances of 17.13m (56-2.25) in the shot put, topping C-USA charts.

UTEP sports two field athletes that will compete in the NCAAs Championships. Blessing Okagbare has qualified in the long (6.36m/20-10.5) and triple (13.64m/44-9.0) jumps, while teammate Nelly Tchayem will compete in the triple (13.47m/44-2.5) jump. Both enter the C-USA Championships with the top marks in each event.

On the men's side, UTEP's Elias Koech has automatically qualified for nationals with the NCAA top time of 1:46.77 in the 800m. He also sports a provisional time of 46.85 in the 400m, ranking 11th in the NCAA.

This year C-USA will crown a new high, long and triple jump champions as UTEP's Mickael Hanany eligibility expired. Looking to claim those titles are Houston's Ivan Diggs and Chris Carter, each have provisionally qualified for nationals and holds C-USA top marks heading into this weekend's action. Diggs leads C-USA and ranks third in the nation in the high jump with a mark of 2.22m (7-3.25), followed by Carter's 15.41m (50-06.75) performance in the triple jump that places him first in the league and 26th in the NCAA.

Rice's Shea Kearney also looks to have a strong performance this weekend in the men's pole vault. He currently tops the C-USA standings and ranks 20th in nation with a mark of 5.21m (17-0.0)

These are just a few of the outstanding athletes that will be competing this weekend in Houston for team and individual titles.

Check out the action as the prelims get underway at 9 a.m. CT on Friday with the heptathlon and pentathlon events, followed by the field events at 1 p.m. C-USA will have four event finals running on Friday with the women's 5,000 meters at 5 p.m. CT, followed by the men's 5,000m at 5:30 p.m. The day wraps up with the finals of the Distance Medley Relay teams at 9:20 p.m. (women) and 9:40 p.m. (men).

Saturday action starts with the heptathlon finals of the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000m run at 9 a.m. Finals of the field events will begin at 11 a.m. with the women's shot put and high jump and men's triple jump. Championships of the running events are set to start with the mile at 1 p.m. and will conclude with the 4x400m relay teams at 4:20 p.m. The final awards ceremony is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Competing for the women's title will be all 12 members of C-USA - East Carolina, Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UCF and UTEP. Marshall, SMU, Tulane, UCF and UAB do not sponsor men's track and field.

All-session tickets are available for only $15 for adults and $8 for youth. Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. All students from Conference USA schools are admitted free with a valid student ID.

Fans can also track the championship via live scoring by logging onto http://www.flashresults.com/flashtexas/cusaindoor08/.

2008 C-USA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE OF EVENT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29
Combined Events
9:00 a.m. - Heptathlon 60H
9:30 a.m. - Pentathlon 60m
9:30 a.m. - Pentathlon High Jump
9:30 a.m. - Heptathlon Long Jump
9:30 a.m. - Pentathlon Shot Put
9:30 a.m. - Heptathlon Shot Put
9:30 a.m. - Pentathlon Long Jump
9:30 a.m. - Heptathlon High Jump
9:30 a.m. - Pentathlon 800m

Field Events
1:00 p.m. - 20lb Weight Throw (W)
2:00 p.m. - Pole Vault (W)
4:00 p.m. - 35lb Weight Throw (M)
4:00 p.m. - Long Jump (W)
6:00 p.m. - High Jump (M)
6:00 p.m. - Long Jump (M)

Running Events
5:00 p.m. - 5000m Final (W)
5:30 p.m. - 5000m Final (M)
6:00 p.m. - 800m Trial (W)
6:20 p.m. - 800m Trial (M)
6:40 p.m. - 60m Trial (W)
7:00 p.m. - 60m Trial (M)
7:20 p.m. - 400m Trial (W)
7:40 p.m. - 400m Trial (M)
8:00 p.m. - 60m hurdles Trial (W)
8:20 p.m. - 60m hurdles Trial (M)
8:40 p.m. - 200m Trial (W)
9:00 p.m. - 200m Trial (M)
9:20 p.m. - DMR Final (W)
9:40 p.m. - DMR Final (M)

SATURDAY , MARCH 1
Combined Events
9:00 a.m. - Heptathlon 60H
9:00 a.m. - Heptathlon Pole Vault
9:00 a.m. - Heptathlon 1000M

Field Events
11:00 a.m. - Shot Put (W)
11:00 a.m. - High Jump (W)
11:00 a.m. - Triple Jump (M)
1:00 p.m. - Shot Put (M)
2:00 p.m. - Pole Vault (M)
2:00 p.m. - Triple Jump (W)

Running Events
1:00 p.m. - Mile (W)
1:20 p.m. - Mile (M)
1:35 p.m. - 60m hurdles (W)
1:45 p.m. - 60m hurdles (M)
1:55 p.m. - 400m (W)
2:05 p.m. - 400m (M)
2:20 p.m. - 60m (W)
2:30 p.m. - 60m (M)
2:40 p.m. - 800m (W)
2:50 p.m. - 800m (M)
3:00 p.m. - 200m (W)
3:10 p.m. - 200m (M)
3:25 p.m. - 3000m (W)
3:55 p.m. - 3000m (M)
4:20 p.m. - 4x400m Relay (W)
4:35 p.m. - 4x400m Relay (M)
5:00 p.m. - Awards Presentation