UH's Turner, McPherson Grab Gold on Day 1 of C-USA Championships

HOUSTON, TEXAS (February 27, 2009) Sophomore Ed Turner claimed his second straight Conference USA long jump championship on Friday, as the Cougars swept the top three places in the event on the first day of competition at the 2009 C-USA Indoor Championships.

At the end of day one, the Cougar men look to be in good shape to contend for their third-consecutive team title, leading the pack with 42.50 points. Rice stands in second with 40 points, while Tulsa rounds out the top three with 32 points.

The women's team also stands atop the championship leaderboard with 31 points and will look to clinch its first title since 2006 on Saturday. Rounding out the top three are Rice with 30 points and UCF with 27 points.

The 2008 C-USA Indoor Freshman of the Year and indoor long jump gold medalist, Turner set a NCAA provisional qualifying mark with a season-best leap of 7.56m (24-09.75) to defend his conference title.

Joining Turner on the awards podium were junior Lamar Delaney and freshman Isaiah Sweeney. Delaney cleared a season-best 7.26m (23-10.00) to take silver, while Sweeney posted a mark of 7.17m (23-06.25) to take bronze.

Junior Quin'shundolyn McPherson claimed her first individual conference title, winning gold in the long jump with a personal best clearance of 5.99m (19-08.00). Senior Dayo Ogunniyi finished fourth with a leap of 5.88m (19-03.50), while freshman Tai'shea Reese took sixth with a mark of 5.75m (18-10.50).

Sophomore Bryan Brown grabbed the Cougars' first medal of the day, taking silver in the men's pole vault competition. Brown's clearance of 4.76m (15-07.25) set a new personal best and currently ranks third in conference this season.

Currently ranked fourth in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles, senior Seun Adigun turned in the second fastest time in qualifying to advance to Saturday's finals with a time of 8.26. Adigun briefly held the conference meet record with the mark before UCF's Jackie Coward snatched it back from her with an 8.19 finish.

Junior Steven Jones posted the fastest mark in the 60m hurdle prelims with a personal best time of 8.03. Also qualifying for the men was freshman D'Korian Ford (8.27) and junior Darryl Cloud (8.41).

After the first day of competition in the heptathlon, senior Morgan Floyd sits in second place behind Leonard McLeggon of Southern Miss.

Floyd racked up a total of 2,961 points during the first four events, finishing in the top three in each. He trails by just over 110 points with three events still remaining on Saturday.

In the 60-meter dash, Sweeney turned in the top time in the prelims with a season best finish of 6.81. Also qualifying for the finals with season-best marks were sophomore Tyron Carrier (6.91) and Turner (6.91).

Freshman Kevin Hobson (6.97), Jones (6.97) and Ernest Imade (7.00) also ran in the 60m prelims and each, too, set season best times.

Entering the championships atop the conference standings in the 60m, sophomore Christie Jones turned in a provisional qualifying time of 7.43 in the prelims to advance to the finals. Also advancing were senior Seun Adigun, sophomore Kalyn Floyd and freshman Grecia Bolton.

Freshmen Doug Kelley and Joe Irabor both qualified for the 400m finals, turning in times of 48.53 and 49.39, respectively. Irabor's mark set a season best.

For the women, freshman Whitney Harris also qualified for the finals with a mark of 56.05.

Qualifying for the Cougars for the 200m finals was Carrier and Hobson for the men's team with times of 22.30 and 22.31, respectively. For the women, Floyd (24.15), McPherson (24.51) and Jones (24.57) swept the top three spots to advance. Floyd and McPherson marks also set season bests.

Junior Brandon Hubbard set a new season best in the weight throw to finish in sixth with a mark of 16.14m (52-11.50). Fellow junior Amanda Villanueva competed for the women and finish with a heave of 14.99m (49-02.25).

In the 800-meter run prelims, freshmen Jesse Rodriguez and Nate Pineda qualified for the finals, turning in times of 1:57.16 and 1:57.92, respectively. Pineda's mark set a season best. Also running was freshman Anthony Jordan who also finished with a season best time of 1:58.26.

Freshman Stephanie Aldea turned in a solid anchor leg to help lead the women's distance medley relay team to a second place finish with a time of 11:53.32. Joining Aldea were junior Erica Hannemann, sophomore Lindsey Marshall and freshman Ciera Johnson.

The men's distance medley team of Pineda, Cloud, Jordan and Rodriguez finished in fifth place with a time of 10:24.06.

Sophomore Laura Allred tied her season best in the high jump clearing 1.65m (5-05.00) to finish in fourth.

For the women, Hanneman set a new personal best with a time of 2:18.05 in the 800m.

In the women's pentathlon competition, senior Kim Brown placed 11th for the Cougars. Brown finished with a total of 3,078 points.

Single-day tickets are available for $10 for adults and $5 for students with ID. All students from Conference USA schools are admitted free with a valid student ID.

Fans who can't attend can follow all the action live on the web by logging on to www.FlashResults.com/FlashTexas.

Competition resumes on Saturday begining with the conclusion of the heptathlon competition with the final three events slated to start at 11 a.m. The men's shot put starting at 1 p.m. will lead off the field events, while running events get under way with the men's mile at 3 p.m.