With Conference USA’s addition of two new schools to track and field competition, the University of Memphis men’s and women’s track and field teams found it a bit tougher to succeed this weekend at the C-USA Championship in Bloomington, Ind.
After finishing third in last season’s Outdoor C-USA Tournament, the men’s team finished seventh behind conference newcomers TCU, which won the tourney, and East Carolina, which finished in the fourth spot.
Led by its top three finishers, Fotis Fotiou, Delvit Rogers and Adam Martin, the Tigers scored 53 points, one point behind Marquette in the sixth-place position.
Fotiou jumped six feet and six inches to place third in the high jump while Delvit Rogers finished second in the triple jump and third in the long jump.
Thrower Adam Martin threw 51’7” to bring home a third-place finish in the shot put.
Tiger sprinter Gary Nameth also competed well for Memphis, finishing seventh in the 60-meter dash and eighth in the 200-meter sprint while Dale Norwood and Landon Norris finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles.
Kris Harmon also contributed points by finishing eighth in the 400-meter dash for the Tigers.
Ivan Williams, Frank Diadhiou, Andre Lucas and Kris Harmon, the men’s 4x400-meter relay team, posted a time of 3:18.39 to finish fifth while Hugh Ferry, Lucas, Ryan Smith and Steve Anthony placed fifth in the distance medley in a time of 10:19.41.
The Lady Tigers, who normally finish among the top eight in the C-USA Indoor Championship, finished 11th this weekend. Head coach Brenda Cash said she knows her team must improve.
“We have got to work harder and recruit better if we are going to be competitive in this conference,” Cash said.
Lisa-Marie Hyman was the Lady Tigers’ best finisher, leaping 40 feet and one inch to finish second in the long jump.
Meanwhile, sophomore Keenan Williams led Memphis sprinters with a sixth-place finish in the 200-meter dash.
Barbara Wine finished seventh in the shot put while Kameilah Amaya placed seventh in the 20-pound weight throw.
The Lady Tigers were allowed just 18 points, but the highlight of the meet came when Wendy Ragle broke the school record in the 5,000-meter run for the second time this spring.
Ragle finished the run in a time of 18:41.29, breaking the record she set at the USA Open Invitational two weeks ago. Although she finished 15th this weekend, Cash was pleased with Ragle’s effort.
“Wendy did well,” Cash said. “She really brought her time down. As for the team, everyone was getting better every week and I thought they would be even better this week.”
The Tigers have a break before the start of the outdoor season when they’ll travel to Birmingham, Ala., for the University of Alabama Relays March 22-23.
