May 14, 2012

NEW ORLEANS - Houston and UCF repeated their 2011 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship titles at the Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, La. The Cougars cruised to their fourth consecutive outdoor crown while the Knights won their third-straight.

Final Results

C-USA Coach of the Year Leroy Burrell men's squad has won each outdoor title since 2009 and continued its dominance with a 38.50 point win on Sunday. Placing second was UTEP with 132 points, followed closely by Tulsa (127), East Carolina (126) and Memphis (122). Rice (73.5), Southern Miss (57) and host Tulane (11) rounded out sixth through eighth, respectively.

The Houston men had finishers in the top eight all evening, highlighted by Errol Nolan's third consecutive 400-meter crown. The junior ran 45.56 to best UTEP's Abiola Onakoya who ran 46.08. In fact Nolan was one of four Cougars to score in the event, joining Kevin Furlough (third/47.09), Xavier Boyd (sixth/47.42) and Dominique Charles (seventh/47.94).

Nolan continued his weekend success with a championship in the 200 meters. The junior ran 20.78, easily defeating runner-up Anthony Wright of UTEP who ran 21.38.

Thomas Lang, C-USA High Point Scorer of the Meet, added to his great weekend by winning the triple jump title. The senior jumped 51-03.75 to best teammate John Horton who finished second with a leap of 49-01.50. Earlier this weekend Lang finished second in the long jump and also finished third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.34.

The 18th-ranked Knights are just the third team in the league to ever accomplish a three-peat on the women's side. Along the way, the Knights produced eight champions and earned 18 all-conference honors.

UCF claimed the title with 160 team points, besting C-USA Indoor Champion East Carolina by nearly 28 points as the Pirates scored 132.166. Southern Miss placed third with 81 points and collected two conference titles in the long and triple jumps. Houston women took fourth with 74 points, while Rice edged rival SMU by a half-a-point, 60.5 to 60, for fourth through sixth places respectively. Only four points separated spots seven to nine as UAB scored 58 points, followed by Memphis with 55 and UTEP with 54. Tulane (33.3333), Marshall (28) and Tulsa (23) rounds out the women's 12 team field.

Freeman set a meet record, school record, freshman record and personal best in the 100 meters with a blistering performance of 11.09 (+1.5) for first place. The time ranks second in the NCAA and 11th in the world this year. Scott finished in step behind her and also tied the previous meet record of 11.21 (+1.5), which ranks among the top 10 in the NCAA.

Senior Sheila Paul and sophomore Dominique Booker scored points in the 100 meters as well with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. Paul registered a season-best time of 11.40, which ranks among the NCAA's top 25, and Booker clocked 11.59.

As a unit in the 4x100 relay, the group clinched UCF's first gold medal of the day by churning out a time of 43.47, which fell just .05 shy of the squad's Conference USA Championship meet record in 2011. The performance ranks among the top 15 in the NCAA this year.

The quartet also shined in the 200 meters as the Knights swept the podium. Scott reclaimed her gold medal in the event with a time of 23.13 (+0.8), which ranks among the top 15 in the NCAA. Paul and Freeman went neck and neck for silver and bronze as both clocked a time of 23.53. Rounding out the bunch, Booker scored points in seventh place with a time of 23.98.

Other highlight performances included Southern Miss' Ganna Demydova who recorded the top two Conference USA triple jump marks in league history with a gold medal performance of 46-0.5" (14.03m). That mark had a wind-read of +2.2 which doesn't qualify for regional or world rankings. However, her fourth leap of 45-10.5" (13.89m) ranks 14th best in the world this season with a legal wind read of 1.0. Senior Tori Bowie also recorded the fourth best world leap in the women's long jump with a program and C-USA Championship performance of 6.78m (22-03.00"). For their outstanding performances, the duo were awarded Co-C-USA Female Performances of the Meet.

Tulsa senior Chris O'Hare became the first C-USA athlete to win three consecutive men's 1500m titles as he clocked a winning time of 3:51.27. Tulsa has won the last five gold medals in the 1500m. O'Hare also won the 800m by crossing the finish line in a time of 1:49.46. Teammate Paulo Pinheiro also collected a pair of gold medals as he won the men's 5,000m (14:17.43) Sunday and the 10,000m (30:40.79) Thursday night.

Male Freshman of the Meet honor went to UTEP's Anthony Rotich for his work in the 3,000m steeplechase (second/8:56.39) and 5,000m run (third/14:19.37). With an impressive toss in the discus, East Carolina's Dennis Aliotta was awarded the Male Performance of the Meet award. The junior produced a gold medal, program best and conference record performance of 19.39m (63-7.50") in the shot put. This marks the second time in the last three years he has won the crown (2010).

2012 CONFERENCE USA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD RESULTS
MEN'S STANDINGS
1. Houston 170.5
2. UTEP 132
3. Tulsa 127
4. East Carolina 126
5. Memphis 122
6. Rice 73.5
7. Southern Miss 57
8. Tulane 11

WOMEN'S STANDINGS
1. UCF 160
2. East Carolina 132.166
3. Southern Miss 81
4. Houston 74
5. Rice 60.5
6. SMU 60
7. UAB 58
8. Memphis 55
9. UTEP 54
10. Tulane 33.3333
11. Marshall 28
12. Tulsa 23

2012 MEN'S INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
High Point Scorer of the Meet - Thomas Lang, Houston
Performance of the Meet - Dennis Aliotta, East Carolina
Freshman of the Meet - Anthony Rotich, UTEP
Coach of the Year - Leroy Burrell, Houston

2012 WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
High Point Scorer of the Meet - Aurieyall Scott, UCF
Performance of the Meet - Tori Bowie and Ganna Demydova, Southern Miss
Freshman of the Meet - Octavious Freeman, UCF
Coach of the Year - Caryl Smith Gilbert, UCF

2012 C-USA OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Tad Gormley Stadium / New Orleans, La.

ALL-CONFERENCE HONOREES
1st-place All-C-USA First Team; 2nd-place All-C-USA Second Team; 3rd-place All-C-USA Third Team

MEN'S
100m
1. Anthony Wright, UTEP 10.51
2. Desmond Lawrence, East Carolina 10.63
3. Austin Lewis, East Carolina 10.65

200m
1. Errol Nolan, Houston 20.78
2. Anthony Wright, UTEP 21.38
3. Kristian Dillard, UTEP 21.48

400m
1. Errol Nolan, Houston 45.56
2. Abiola Onakoya, UTEP 46.08
3. Kelvin Furlough, Houston 47.09

800m
1. Chris O'Hare, Tulsa 1:49.46
2. Dale Dunn, Southern Miss 1:49.76
3. Fabian Fiege, Memphis 1:49.83

1500m
1. Chris O'Hare, Tulsa 3:51.27
2. Tom Marshall, Tulsa 3:51.97
3. Drevan Anderson Kaapa, Houston 3:52.75

5000m
1. Paulo Pinheiro, Tulsa 14:17.43
2. Carl Stones, Tulsa 14:18.22
3. Anthony Rotich, UTEP 14:19.37

100m Hurdles
1. Robert Jackson, Memphis 14.06
2. Randy McCoy, Southern Miss 14.09
3. Thomas Lang, Houston 14.34

400m Hurdles
1. Quinton Harley, East Carolina 51.28
2. Brandon Williams, Memphis 51.59
3. Collin Shurbet, Rice 52.53

4x100m Relay
1. East Carolina 40.41 - 1) Desmond Lawrence, 2) Austin Lewis, 3) Quinton Harley, 4) Antonial Marshall
2. UTEP 40.50 - 1) Kristian Dillard, 2) Curtis Kock, 3) Abiola Onakoya, 4) Anthony Wright
3. Houston 40.72 - 1) Xavier Boyd, 2) Errol Nolan, 3) James Lang, 4) Dominique Charles

4x400m Relay
1. Houston 3:07.68 - 1) Dominique Charles, 2) Doug Kelley, 3) Anthony Coleman, 4) Errol Nolan
2. UTEP 3:09.20 - 1) Anthony Wright, 2) Abiola Onakoya, 3) Shane Hamm, 4) Curtis Kock
3. Tulsa 3:10.69 - 1) David Fitter, 2) Justin Smith, 3) Matt Davis, 4) Julian Frazier

Javelin
1. Kyle Bynum, Memphis 70.27m/230-0"
2. Matthew McConaughey, East Carolina 67.95m/222-11"
3. Richard Olsson, UTEP 66.10m/216-10"

Pole Vault
1. Austin Crenshaw, Memphis 5.23m/17-01.75
2. Karlis Pujats, Memphis 5.13m/16-10.00
3. Bryan Brown, Houston 4.98m/16-04.00

Discus
1. Chase Sammons, Tulsa 51.06m/167-06
2. Montrell Morrow, East Carolina 50.61m/166-00
3. Jacob Schult, Houston 50.56m/165-10

Triple Jump
1. Thomas Lang, Houston 15.64m/51-03.75
2. John Horton, Houston 14.97m/49-01.50
3. Miles Coats, East Carolina 14.94m/49-00.25

WOMEN'S
100m
1. Octavious Freeman, UCF 11.09*
2. Aurieyall Scott, UCF 11.21*
3. Tori Bowie, Southern Miss 11.30

200m
1. Aurieyall Scott, UCF 23.13
2. Sheila Paul, UCF 23.53
3. Octavious Freeman, UCF 23.53

400m
1. Amber Evans, SMU 52.92
2. Tiffany Harris, East Carolina 53.00
3. Tyshonda Hawkins, East Carolina 53.73

800m
1. Ne'Ausha Logan, UCF 2:07.25
2. Ciera Johnson, Houston 2:08.16
3. Britney Kott, East Carolina 2:08.97

1500m
1. Sarah Hudak, UAB 4:21.84
2. Brittany Copeland, East Carolina 4:23.18
3. Mary Alenbratt, SMU 4:25.40

5000m
1. Becky Wade, Rice 16:27.57
2. Allison Pye, Rice 16:32.84
3. Kristine Eikrem-Engeset, SMU 16:38.06

100m Hurdles
1. Jackie Coward, UCF 13.10
2. Janice Jackson, UTEP 13.27
3. Karessa Farley, UCF 13.34

400m Hurdles
1. Jackie Coward, UCF 58.35
2. Rachel Harley, UAB 59.26
3. Aisha-Maree Frazier, UCF 59.46

4x100m Relay
1. UCF 43.47 - 1) Dominique Booker, 2) Octavious Freeman, 3) Aurieyall Scott, 4) Sheila Paul
2. Houston 44.30 - 1) Tai'Shea Reese, 2) Whitney Harris, 3) Alicia Perkins, 4) Grecia Bolton
3. East Carolina 45.05 - 1) Tania Minkins, 2) Tyshonda Hawkins, 3) Erin Tucker, 4) Tiffany Harris

4x400m Relay
1. East Carolina 3:36.92 - 1) Aiesha Goggins, 2) Tiffany Harris, 3) Tania Minkins, 4) Tyshonda Hawkins
2. Houston 3:37.39 - 1) Brittany Wallace, 2) Ciera Johnson, 3) Tai'Shea Reese, 4) Ngozi Onwumere
3. Memphis 3:37.57 - 1) Monica Mason, 2) Maya Williamson, 3) Keyona Neal, 4) Kala Funderburk

Javelin
1. Ana Ruzevic, Tulane 47.87m/157-01
2. Amanda Kennedy, Marshall 44.42m/145-09
3. Laura Macauley, UTEP 43.59m/143-00

Triple Jump
1. Ganna Demydova, Southern Miss 14.03m/46-00.50
2. Estefany Cruz, Tulane 12.83m/42-01.25
3. Tomika Story, UCF 12.74m/41-09.75

Discus
1. Chase Sammons, Tulsa 51.06m/167-6
2. Montrell Morrow, East Carolina 50.61m/166-00
3. Jacob Schultz, Houston 50.56m/165-10

Pole Vault
1. Karley King, Houston 3.90m/12-09.50
2. Abbey Way, East Carolina 3.80m/12-05.50
2. Joanna Lapucha, Tulane 3.80m/12-05.50
2. Kathryn Warner, East Carolina 3.80m/12-05.50

High Jump
1. Tynita Butts, East Carolina 1.85m/6-00.75
2. Ke'Airra Jones, Southern Miss 1.79m/5-10.50
3. Laura Toldy, Memphis 1.76m/5-09.25

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