May 15, 2009

TULSA, Okla. - - After completing 10 events in two days, Phillip Adam of Rice is the 2009 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Champion in the men's decathlon. The sophomore scored a C-USA season-best 7,331 points for all-conference first team honors Friday afternoon at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium in Tulsa, Okla. Adam was only 190 points shy of the championship record of 7,521 points by Southern Miss' Jason Wilson set in 2000.

UAB wins its first C-USA women's heptathlon title after junior Nora Mehl scored a season- and league-best 4,811 points in seven events. Mehl finished in the top five in five events and won the high jump with a mark of 1.75m (5-08.75). She also took third in the javelin throw with a throw of 32.12m (105-04) and 800m with a time of 3:29.76. Mehl other top five finish was in the long jump where she leaped 5.59m for fourth-place.

Rice scored 18 out of a possible 36 points in the decathlon. In addition to Adam's first place showing, Clayton Chaney and Pete Navarra scored for the Owls. Chaney earned the team five points with a fourth-place finish of 5,546, while Navarra placed sixth with 4,964 points for three team points.

Adam racked up his gold medal totals with five first-place finishes and three runner-up honors. He won the spot put (14.03m/46-00.5), high jump and 400m (49.43) Thursday, followed by winning the pole vault (4.55m/14-11) and 1,500m (4:41.20) today. Adam also placed second in the 110m hurdles (15.40), discus (38.97m/127-10) and 100m (10.93) as well as third in the long jump (6.75m) and fourth in the javelin (43.61m/143-01). This marks the second decathlon title for the Owls in the past four years. Ryan Walsh also won the event in 2006.

Houston senior Morgan Floyd finished second with a season-best 7,135 points, followed by freshman Sebastian Biau of East Carolina who took bronze with 6,174 points, also a personal-best performance.

Mehl teammate Timara McMillan placed third for an additional six points for the Blazers when she finished with 4,752 points, while Memphis senior Eryka Morris won the silver medal with a total of 4,764 points. UAB also scored one point from Sterling Cross' eighth-place finish of 4,223. The women's all-conference honorees recorded the top three marks in the league this season.

Champions of the men's and women's discus and long jump as well as the women's high jump and men's pole vault will be awarded late Friday afternoon. The majority of the prelims of the running events will also start at 5:30 p.m. today, with the nightcap being the finals of the 3,000m steeplechases.