Feb. 23, 2001

Houston, Texas-- - The University of Memphis men's track and field team is in second place following the first day of competition at the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Tigers won one event and broke two school and one meet record in the first day of competition, Friday.

The Distance Medley relay team grabbed Memphis' first win in the championships when they won the final event of day one with a time of 10:12.02.

Senior Larry Crawford (Memphis, Tenn./Craigmont) set a new school and meet record in the 60-meter preliminaries, advancing to Saturday's final with a time of 6.73. Crawford's new time is just .01 of a second off from provisionally-qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The 60-meter finals will be held Saturday at 1:45 p.m., Saturday. The previous fastest 60-meter time in the league championships was held by Cornelius Lassic of Southern Miss (6.82 seconds). Crawford broke his own school record from last season of 6.79 seconds.

Another school record fell when sophomore Balazs Laszlo finished sixth in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:57. The previous best was 15:12.91, a record set by Christian Friis in 1997.

Three other Tigers scored well in their finals, Friday. Junior Delvit Rogers finished second in the long jump with a jump of 24-4.50. Junior Fotis Fotiou finished third in the high jump when he cleared 6-8 and freshman Adam Martin finished fourth in the 35-lb. weight throw with a mark of 15.17 meters (49-9.25).

Memphis is currently in second place behind Charlotte with 37 points. The four-time defending conference champion Houston Cougars are third overall with 35 points.

Standings After Day One
1. Charlotte, 53 points
2. Memphis, 37 points
3. Houston, 35 points
4. Marquette, 27 points
5. DePaul, 25 points
6. Tulane, 16 points

Memphis Finishers
60-meter dash, preliminaries:
Heat 1 - 1. Larry Crawford, 6.73 (school and meet record), 5. Franck Diadhiou, 6.95
Heat 2 - 3. Ivan Williams, 6.96, 4. Michael Woods, 6.99

200-metr dash, preliminaries:
Heat 1 - 1. Ivan Williams, 22.47
Heat 2 - Larry Crawford, 22.09, 3. Franck Diadhiou, 22.79
Heat 3 - 2. Michael Woods, 22.85

400-meter dash, preliminaries:
Heat 1 - 2. Kris Harmon, 49.45
Heat 2 - 2. Chris Ingram, 49.57, 3. Darron Brown, 57.57

800-meter run, preliminaries
Heat 1 - 2. Andre Lucas, 1:57.
Heat 2 - 6. Jeff Doudrick, 1:57.37

Men's 5000-meter run, final
6. Balazs Laszlo, 14:57.09 (school record)

60-meter high hurdles
Heat 1 - 5. Landon Norris, 8.61

Distance Medley Relay
1. Memphis, 10:12.02

High Jump
3. Fotis Fotiou, 2.03 meters (6-8)

Long Jump
2. Delvit Rogers, 7.43 meters (24-4.50), 6. Courtland Perry, 6.89 meters (22-7.25)

35# Weight Throw
4. Adam Martin, 15.17 meters (49-9.25), 7. Justin Garrison, 14.12 (46-4).