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Tigers Invade Tulsa for 2009 C-USA Outdoor Championship This Weekend
May 13, 2009
C-USA Notebook May 11, 2009 PDF
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis track & field team is set to compete at the 14th Annual 2009 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Tulsa, Okla., this weekend. The three-day event is slated for Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16, at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium on Tulsa's campus. This will mark the first time the Golden Hurricane has hosted the outdoor event. The 2007 Memphis men's outdoor team was the last U of M squad to take home the C-USA Outdoor Championship. In 2008, the men's team finished in fourth place at the outdoor championships taking home five individual event championships while the women's squad placed sixth earning a pair of titles. The 2009 championships will get underway on Thursday with the finals of the men's hammer throw at 10 a.m., followed by the women's at 12:30 p.m. The heptathlon and decathlon athletes begin action at 2:30 p.m., and will wrap up completion Friday morning. The men's decathlon consists of the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400m, 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m. The heptathlon will have athletes competing in the 100m hurdles, 200m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, javelin and 800m. The 10,000-meter run will take place under the lights as the men's race is set to start at 8:15 p.m., followed by the women's at 9 p.m. A new conference champion will be crowned in each event on Thursday. Friday's running events start at 5:30 p.m. with the men's 1,500m and wraps up with the women's 3,000m steeplechase at 9:20 p.m. The majority of Friday's events are preliminary races, building up to Saturday's championship action starting at 5 p.m. with the 4x100m relays. The lone Tiger who will be competing at the 2009 C-USA Outdoor Championships to defend his title is sophomore Aaron Whetstone who recorded a C-USA meet record leap of 16.60m (54-05.50) at last year's triple jump event. He enters the 2009 championships with a season best NCAA regional qualifying mark of 15.01m (49-03.00). A total of 21 Tigers' performances are ranked in the top-5 on the C-USA performance list in various events. Eight of those performances are NCAA regional qualifying marks. On the women's side, three regional qualifying performances come from senior Sivan Aballi who holds the No. 2 shot put mark of 15.49m (50-10.00), sophomore Marina Vojinovic with the No. 4 shot put mark of 14.80m (48-06.75) and freshman Inger Anne Froysedal who recorded the No. 2 triple jump distance of 12.90m (42-04.00) for her season best. Other top-5 performances come from senior Whitney Bolton the No. 2 pole vault height with a mark of 3.75m (12-03.50). Another Lady Tiger shot putter junior Karmyn Clark holds the No. 5 mark with a throw of 14.24m (46-08.75). Sophomore Kristin Sundsteigen recorded the No. 5 hammer throw toss of 52.14m (171-01). Froysedal also boasts the No. 5 javelin distance with a mark of 42.79m (140-05). The men have recorded a total of five NCAA regional qualifying marks through 2009 and bring 14 performances in the top-5 on the C-USA performance list. The qualifying marks include senior Christian McDonald's No. 3 ranked javelin toss of 62.80m (206-00). In addition to Whetstone's triple jump mark, he also holds a regional qualifying mark in the long jump with a C-USA best 7.50m (24-07.25). On the track, sophomore Richard Lowe recorded a C-USA best and NCAA regional qualifying mark in the 400m hurdles with a time of 51.55. His 400m dash mark of 47.83 is also the No. 3 mark in C-USA. Freshman Aaron Evans heads in to C-USA boasting his No. 2 mark 800m run mark with an NCAA regional qualifying time of 1:49.35. The men's hurdlers hold C-USA's No. 1, and No. 5 best times with freshman Robert Jackson leading the way with a time of 14.36, and sophomore Darius Anderson with a fifth best time of 14.66. Sophomore Edwin Kipkorir recorded the conference's No. 2 time in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:18.44 and sophomore Jacob Champan holds the No. 5 best 10,000m run time of 32:34.92. The men's 4x400m relay team consisting of Evans, Guy Hudson, Lowe and Alex Sweet comes into the conference meet holding the No. 2 best time with a mark of 3:13.83. Other field events in the top-5 include senior Greg Norrid's No. 3 best mark in the shot put with a throw of 15.84m (51-11.75). Junior Harding Zills owns the No. 5 mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 49.77m (163-03) and sophomore Jerome Leslie in the high jump with a No. 4 mark of 1.98m (6-06.00). Thursday's events include the beginning of the men's decathlon at 2:30 p.m. with senior Jason Morgan being the lone Memphis representative and the women's heptathlon at 3:00 p.m. where senior Eryka Morris, and sophomores Deneen Kirk and Desiree Blow will be in competition for the Tigers. Junior Harding Zills is the long competitor for the Tigers in the men's hammer throw that begins on Thursday at 10 a.m. For the Lady Tigers, freshman Alanna Owens will compete in the first flight of the women's hammer throw at 12:30 p.m. while juniors Karmyn Clark and Angela Wigley, along with sophomore Kristin Sundsteigen go to work in the second flight. Sophomore Jacob Chapman will be the final Tiger in competition on Thursday as he takes flight in the 10,000m run at 8:15 p.m. All session championship tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for youth, while single session tickets are $12 and $6. C-USA students and staff with a valid I.D. are admitted free. Tickets are available by calling (918) 631-4688. For live results of the 2009 C-USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship can be viewed at 2009 C-USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Central or 2009 C-USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Live Results
2009 Conference USA Outdoor Track & Field Schedule of Events
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Memphis Tigers
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