Next Up: Championship Season Arrives
May 11, 2011 | Track & Field
May 11, 2011
5/12/2011 - 5/15/2011
Tulane Green Wave at Conference USA Championships
Start Time: 4:00 (Thur.), Noon (Fri.), 5:00 (Sat.), 4:00 (Sun.)
Site: Holloway Field & Ley Track (Houston, Texas)
Live Stats | Men's Heat Sheets (PDF) | Women's Heat Sheets (PDF)
On Thursday, May 12, the Holloway Field & Ley Track complex will host eleven women's teams and eight men's teams as the Conference USA Outdoor Championships get underway in Houston. Tulane will send a solid contingent of student-athletes to compete on the Rice University campus during the four day event.
Entering the championships, the Green Wave has a solid contingent of athletes that are in contention to score points for the team in Houston. Leading the way for the women's squad are Rebecca Coady, Raquelle Collins, Zandria Debowles, Tiffany George and Ana Ruzevic, while Koplan Nwabuoku, Garrett Myer and Julius Warmsley are the top challengers on the men's side.
As a freshman, George has busted onto the sprinting scene this season with top regional marks in both the 100 and 200 meter dash events. The Zachary, La. native ranks 23rd nationally in the 100-meter dash, while sitting 54th in the 200-meter dash among the East regional competitors. Entering the Conference USA Championships, George holds the seventh fastest 100 and 13th fastest 200-meter times among her conference counterparts. Both of those marks place her among the fastest in school history, with her 100-meter time of 11.47 sitting third all-time and the 23.83 the 200-meter dash is sixth in the Tulane record books.
Ruzevic enters the championships with the top throw in Conference USA in the javelin event, grabbing a school record toss of 51.37-meters in the season-opening Tulane Team Challenge. The junior has seen limited action over the past two months due to injury, but will enter the championships ranked first in C-USA and second overall in the East regional. The Split, Croatia native finished the 2010 campaign at the NCAA National Meet and brought home a ninth place finish.
Coady enters the weekend ranked among the top-ten in both of the events she is competing in, sitting sixth in the 1,500-meter and eighth in the 800-meter runs. The senior owns Tulane's top three times in each event and has set new personal bests in both events already in 2011. Coady ran 2:11.67 over 800-meters to set her PR in that event at the Louisiana Classics in March and posted a time of 4:29.54 in the 1,500-meter at the Sea Ray Relays in mid-April for her career-best mark. She ranks among the top-ten in school history at both distances, sitting sixth in the 1500 and eighth in the 800.
Collins and DeBowles each enter the meet ranked among the top-ten in their respective events. Collins is a senior from New Iberia, La. and ranks seventh in the long jump heading into competition on Saturday (May 14) with her season-best leap of 5.87-meters. That distance places Collins among the top-ten in school history, ranking her sixth al-time. DeBowles is just the third Tulane hurdler to break the 60-second mark, as the senior sits second among her C-USA counterparts in the 400-meter hurdles with a season best time of 59.12. DeBowles ranks third on the all-time charts as a Green Wave and is currently ranked 27th in the East Regional.
Warmsley is the top qualifier in a men's event for the Olive and Blue, entering the championships ranked sixth in the javelin. The freshman has added a new element to the Green Wave's squad, on that has not been as prevalent since the late 1990's. After competing in football this fall and taking part in spring practice with the Green Wave's gridiron gang, Warmsley has posted the team's top four javelin throws and posted the sixth best toss in school history (60.33-meters) on March 26 at the LSU Relays. The rookie has also posted the top six throws for TU in the discus, with a season-best mark of 39.36-meters.
Nwabuoku enters the meet with the tenth fastest time in Conference US in the 400-meter dash, running 48.61-seconds over the distance in the season opener. Nwabuoku opened the year with that mark at the Tulane Team Challenge and put his name among the school's best, sitting sixth on the career list.
Myer also has a chance to put some points on the board for the Green Wave in the decathlon, which takes place on Friday at the championships. The junior will compete in the 100-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, 400-meter dash and 1500-meter run, along with the high jump, long jump, pole vault, discus, javelin and shot put on Friday. The Ft. Worth, Texas native has set new personal-bests in the long jump, high jump and javelin already in 2011 and will compete in five of the events for the first time this season in Houston.
The Conference USA Championships will begin on Thursday, May 12 at 4:00 p.m. and live stats for the entire event can be found by clicking here.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
Players Mentioned
