Track And Field Off To C-USA Championships

Saturday, February 16

Birmingham, AL

University of North Texas

Conference USA Indoor Championships

2/15/2019 11:46:00 AM | Track & Field/XC

championship central Video Stream (Day 1)video stream (day 2)ESPN+ (after 2 pm Saturday)live results

BIRMINGHAM, Al. – North Texas track and field heads to the 2019 Air Force Reserve Indoor Track & Field Championships Feb. 16-17 hosted by UAB inside Birmingham CrossPlex.

Preparation
"We have been preparing for the championships with business as usual," director of track and field Carl Sheffield said. "We feel pretty confident with what we've been doing in training to this point. I think it's important for things to stay consistent with what they're doing to achieve personal bests. If we can run, throw and jump as we did last month, we'll have an opportunity have some big performances."

Mean Green Expectations
"Conference USA is very competitive at the top of the performance list. Our conference leaders are also at the top of the national lists," Sheffield said. "I want to see our team step up and perform to the best of their abilities on this stage. I want to see growth in our youngsters' ability to compete in a team environment and still perform at a high level individually. We'll have a good weekend if we can make more finals."

Mean Green in Conference Top 10
Several North Texas student-athletes are ranked within the top 10 performance list this season, including:

Men
60-meter dash
Darien Porter – 2^nd(6.79 seconds)

3,000-meter run
Florian Lussy – 8^th(8:26.99)

60-meter hurdles
Joseph Squire – 6^th(8.02)

4x400-meter relay
Abdon Campbell, Ziphion Reevey, Joseph Squire, James Cole – 10^th(3:21.97)

Distance Medley Relay
Tim Jones, Abdon Campbell, Andrew Cobos, Alex Cleveland – 5^th(10:36.95)

Pole vault
Brock Hottel – T-2^nd(5.20 meters)
Jacob Franks – T-9^th(4.85)
Cody Bullard – T-9^th(4.85)

Shot put
Chris Samaniego – 10^th(14.54)

Weight throw
Karl Sralla – 9^th(15.66)

Women
60-meter dash
Alia Holmes – 4^th(7.50 seconds)

200-meter dash
Alia Holmes – 2^nd(23.88)
Aneesa Scott – 5^th(24.31)

60-meter hurdles
Lyric Choice – 5^th(8.71)

4x400-meter relay
Lauryn McCollum, Aneesa Scott, Bria Williams, Artesha Richardson – 7^th(3:51.04)

Distance Medley Relay
Aubrey Schmidt, Bria Williams, Darrian Johnson, Cassidy Adams – 3^rd(12:36.45)

Pole vault
Sydney Salinas – 7^th(3.70 meters)
Mary Piercy – 8^th(3.67)

Long jump
Breanna Eckels – 6^th(5.97)

Shot put
Jaleisa Shaffer – 4^th(14.65)
Haley Walker – 9^th(13.40)

Past Finishes and C-USA Champions
Men's Team Finishes
Year                 Place               Points
2017:               10^th                  22
2016:               4^th                    59
Champion: Eddie Wilcox - high jump (2.17 meters)
2015:               5^th                    70.5
Champion: Troy Taylor – 3,000-meter run (8:35.58)
2014:               8^th                    48

Women's Team Finishes
Year                 Place               Points
2017:               9^th                    35
Champion: Breanna Eckels, long jump (5.95 meters)
2016:               6^th                    54.5
2015:               10^th                  35
Champions: Susie Kemper – mile (4:58.37); Shahaf Bareni – high jump (1.79 meters)
2014:               12^th                  32

Records Books Being Rewritten
Four Mean Green school records have already fallen this indoor season, two on the track and another pair on the field.

Brock Hottel made the most of his Mean Green debut Jan. 12 at the Kansas State Invitational in pole vault with a mark of 5.20 meters to break Jordan Wehr's vault of 5.05 set during the 2009 season.

Joseph Squire ran the 60-meter hurdles in 8.00 seconds at the Texas Tech Classic Jan. 25 to surpass the 8.04 posted by Sammy Dabbs in 2002.

Alia Holmes placed her name in the North Texas record books by running the 200-meter dash in 23.81 seconds Jan. 26 at the Texas Tech Classic to improve upon the 24.01 ran by Alysha Adams during the 2010 season.

Jaleisa Shaffer set a school record in the shot put with a heave of 14.65 meters at the J.D. Martin Invitational Feb. 2 to improve upon the previous mark of 14.50 set by Stacy Orakpo in 2005.

Holmes Makes History for UNT
Alia Holmes earned the Mean Green's first Conference USA Female Indoor Track Athlete of the Week honor Jan. 29 after setting the UNT record in the 200-meter dash in 23.81 seconds at the Texas Tech Classic Jan. 26. The Cedar Hill native eclipsed the record of 24.01 set by Alysha Adams in 2010.

In just her second meet running the 200m for the Mean Green, Holmes improved upon her previous collegiate best of 24.65, set as a freshman at Ole Miss.

Holmes becomes the second Mean Green to achieve a C-USA indoor weekly award, joining Dominique Drayden, who earned Male Indoor Field Athlete of the Week during the 2017 season.