Pirate Remain Strong In CUSA Championships
May 17, 2008 | Track & Field
May 17, 2008
Conference USA Track and Field Championships, Day Two (PDF) 
IRVING, Texas - The race for the 2008 Conference USA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship title is a close one as host UTEP enters the final day of action with 70 points, just ahead of Memphis' 52 points and Houston's 48 points for third place. East Carolina took home five top ten finishes on day two, and had eight athletes qualify for final events on Saturday, the final day of competition.
After nine events, the women's race has Rice and Memphis at the top of the leader board with 65 and 46 points, respectively. UTEP is in third place with 40.5 points, followed by Tulsa (31.5) and SMU (31). Spencer Barrick's mark of 63.34 earned him 2nd place honors in the javelin throw, while Valeria Moore finished tied for 2nd in the high jump (1.65), the highest honors for the Pirates on day two.
Stephanie McDougal took home 4th place in the pole vault with a mark of 3.55m while Lindsay Dolan finished the heptathlon in eighth with 4,092 total points. Meghan Horne also finished in the top ten in the high jump, coming in 9th with a mark of 1.60m.
On the men's side, several athletes qualified for finals in the last day of competition. Christopher Richardson (3rd, 47.68) and Ron Wright (5th, 48.01) advanced to the finals in the 400 meter dash. Kris Bell's time of 14.68 in the 110 hurdles earned him a spot in tomorrow's finals, while Kevin Thompson (3rd) advanced in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.68. Matt Dennish (5th, 1:54.41) and Jarrett Newby (6th, 1:55.57) both earned spots in Saturday's 800 meter run finals. Mario Brisco (3rd, 54.39) moved to the finals in the 400 meter hurdles while Thompson, who has already advanced to the 110 hurdles finals, will also compete in the 200 meter dash after coming in 5th in the preliminaries with a time of 21.37.
In the only running event final of the day, SMU freshman standout Silje Fjortoft captured the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 10:33.72, followed by Rice's Nicole Mericle (10:35.88) and Becky Wade (10:52.70) clocking the second and third-best times in the 12-person field.
UTEP senior Patrick Mutai repeated his 3,000-meter steeplechase crown with a time of 8:55.52, while teammate Nicodemus Ng'etich earned silver with a second-place time of 9:18.35. Rice's Brett Olson took bronze in 9:33.12.
2008 C-USA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP
Day Two - May 16
El Paso, Texas / Kidd Field
Women's Standings
1. Rice, 65
2. Memphis, 46
3. UTEP, 40.50
4. Tulsa, 31.50
5. SMU, 31
6. Southern Miss, 29
7. UCF, 24.33
8. Houston, 21.50
9. Marshall, 17.33
10. Tulane, 16
10. UAB, 16
12. East Carolina, 12.83
Men's Standings
1. UTEP, 70
1. Memphis, 52
3. Houston, 48
4. Rice, 39
5. Southern Miss, 28
6. Tulsa, 27
7. East Carolina, 8
