Track focuses on victory at Conference USA competition
By Samica Knight
Daily Cougar Staff
With the Conference USA championships only three weeks away, the UH
track teams hope to lead the Cougar parade to a C-USA victory.
Pin Lim/The Daily Cougar
Freshman Krystal Ward, center, runs the hurdles as part
of the heptathlon. Ward won the high jump at the LSU Invitational last
weekend.
As the biggest meet in outdoor track swiftly approaches, both teams
have placed their focus on one goal: a C-USA victory.
"We are starting to taper down and do more training and less work,"
head coach Leroy Burrell said. "We want to focus more on the track."
Coach Burrell said he believes the women's team is the best in the conference
— they just need to go out and prove it once more.
The women's team is no stranger to hard work and strong focus — after
all, the Cougars hold the C-USA Indoor Championship title.
Injuries could be the only setback for the Cougars.
Because of a handful of injuries on their side of the track, the Cougars
have their work cut out for them.
C-USA champions such as Robert Foster and Greg Christie have both struggled
with injuries throughout the season.
Burrell said that some injured athletes competed in earlier portions
of the season in order to help the recovery process.
Though the men's squad is young, Burrell said he believes it also has
an excellent opportunity to win a conference title because it has a better
team this year than it did last year.
With the addition of Texas Christian and East Carolina, the outdoor
conference meet is expected to be more competitive than in past years.
Burrell said that because of the addition of such good programs, the
competition is moving more toward quality and not quantity.
As for last weekend's meet, only a small team of Cougars competed in
the LSU Team Invitational.
The women ran very well, Burrell said.
Courtnie Ratliff soared to second in the 400-meter run in 54.89.
Freshman Krystal Ward leaped high enough to conquer the women's high
jump with a leap of 5-10.00.
In the men's division, freshman Fred Day nabbed a first-place victory
in the 100 with 10.47.
As far as C-USA is concerned, Burrell has high hopes for his team. "I'm
hoping we'll win," he said. "We have an excellent opportunity for a win,
but we have to make sure and seize the opportunity."
