March 17, 2005

Memphis, Tenn. - The University of Memphis track and field teams will be back in action Saturday, March 19, as they open the outdoor season with the Spring Opener, hosted by Rhodes College at the Rhodes Track and Field Complex. Saturday's meet will be the U of M's only meet of the season to be held in Memphis as the Tigers and Lady Tigers do not host a meet at the Billy J. Murphy Track.

The relatively small but talented Memphis teams will look to build on several strong performances at the Conference USA Indoor Championships as the outdoor campaign begins.

Junior thrower Gail Lee is once again expected to be a top performer in two events for the Lady Tigers as she will compete in the shot put and the hammer throw outdoors after excelling in the shot and weight throw indoors. Along with Lee, 100m hurdler Sheena Ohlig and high jumper Chen Edri will be preeminent competitors for the Lady Tigers in their respective events, with Edri also hoping to contribute in the javelin throw.

Returning for the outdoor season and adding much needed depth to the U of M women's squad will be senior triple jumper Lisa-Marie Hyman, who comes back for her final season at Memphis. The school record holder and three-time C-USA champion (2 outdoor; 1 indoor) will seek a fourth conference crown after another great indoor season where she competed as "unattached" due to the previous utilization of her four years of indoor eligibility.

On the men's side, the U of M will have to fill large void from the indoor season, as top-thrower and two-event Conference USA scorer, J.D. Erickson, will sit out the outdoor season in order to save full indoor and outdoor seasons of eligibility for his senior year. However, a number of Tigers including throwers Norbert Gulyas and Darius Frye will look to step up and fill the hole.

With the absence of Erickson, the most successful Tiger will likely be senior jumper Janon Busby, who will look to carry a great indoor campaign in both the triple jump and high jump over into the outdoor season.

Fellow senior and 110m hurdler Daniel Kiss is another Tiger who had an outstanding indoor season in the 60m hurdles, and will aspire for further success in the longer race outdoors.

Several other Memphis men, including sprinters Willie Green and Austin Hunter, distance runner Abraham Shaposhnik and jumper Brandon Winbush each showed positive signs during the indoor season and will look for further improvement and more success outdoors.

All of the U of M athletes, many of which will be competing in different events outdoors, will enter the Spring Opener with high hopes for the outdoor campaign. The meet, which will feature several colleges and universities from around the area, will thus be a great opening meet to tune up skills and prepare for the remainder of the outdoor season.

Field events at the Spring Opener are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday morning, with track events slated to start at 10 a.m. Results for the meet will be posted at gotigersgo.com following the completion of competition.