Sports

UH men defend C-USA title; Women take 3^rd

by Tom Carpenter
The Daily Cougar

With All-American Stanford Routt leading the charge, a deep and talented UH men's team stormed to victory at the Conference USA Track and Field Championships at Yeoman Field House on Saturday. The Cougar men scored a championship-record 181 team points, 82 points more than runner-up Texas Christian, en route to defending their indoor title.

A gritty performance by the two-time defending champion Lady Cougars couldn't match the blazing speed of 2004 C-USA Women's Indoor Champion TCU (125 points) or the strength of South Florida (97.50 points) as the Lady Cougars (92 total points) finished third in the 13-team field.

Routt, named C-USA Male Athlete of the Year, raced to victory in the 60-meters with an NCAA-provisional time of 6.66 seconds and then ripped off a career best 21.09 in the 200-meters to set a meet record and automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship. 

"I told the team before the meet that I've seen track teams get on a roll, and it starts from a spark," UH track and field head coach and 2004 C-USA Men's Coach of the Year Leroy Burrell said. "Ron Veillon, our team captain, sparked the team first thing in the morning Friday and that carried us through." 

Veillon, a junior, won the heptathlon for the second consecutive year with a career-best 5,373 total points, provisionally qualifying him for the NCAA Championship. Sophomore teammate Eric Matcek scored 4,689 points to capture second place.

Inspired by Veillon's record-setting performance, the Cougars swept to victory after victory until an injury held junior Alex Winstel to a sixth place finish in the 800-meters.

"We just had one of those days," Burrell said. "I think our competitors got caught in a cross-fire. We're real strong in all areas, and I think TCU had some key injuries."

No event demonstrated the Cougars' dominance better than the pole vault. Junior Daniel Patton cleared 16-00.75 to beat teammates Alex Cantu, Veillon and Jason Myers for a UH sweep and 29 points. (Points were awarded on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.)

Routt and sophomore Preston Perry finished first and fifth in the 60-meters and then teamed with freshman Carey LaCour to place first, fifth and second respectively in the 200-meters. 

Sophomore Vincent Marshall scored ten points when he captured the triple-jump with a leap of 49-06.25. Junior Andrew Carruthers set a meet record in the 60-meter hurdles with a career best 7.93 while teammates junior Milton Manson and Ronald Broadnax finished second and fifth.

Sophomore sensation Sesar Figueroa out-dueled speedster Jackson Langat of TCU in the mile run when Figueroa came from behind to win by .08 of a second in 4:11.16. Figueroa came back a few hours later to nab third place in the 3000 meters with a time of 8:36.40. 

Other men who scored for the Cougars were Tristian Whitley, Maruilio Sanchez, Cole Dailey and Johnathon Reeves.

All-American Krystal Ward led the way for the women with a first place finish in the pentathlon. 

Junior Shayla Bowman took second in the weight throw with Tinisha Wesley and Allie Booker placing fifth and sixth. Wesley also captured a fifth in the shot.

Senior Jessica Edwards chipped in six points with a third place finish in the pole vault. Junior Alicia Cave took second in the 60-meter hurdles while teammate Jaketa West finished eighth.

Renee Clarke placed third and Kiesha Howard seventh in the 400-meter dash. Freshman LaDedra Guy finished fourth and junior Alicia Cave eighth in the 200-meter dash. Guy also captured a third in the 60-meter dash.

Freshman Rachel Easley scored ten points with fourth place finishes in the triple jump and the long jump.

"We have a young team, and young teams can get a little emotional, a little fickle," Burrell said. "But we've got a great nucleus of kids, a team that's going to be really competitive once we have a chance to grow and mature and jell."

"I don't see a loss as a complete negative, especially when we have another season to go. We can rally. I think this team has a lot of heart, a lot of spirit. We just need to learn how to focus and compete when it really matters."

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