Track Contingent Houston-Bound for C-USA Meet

5/9/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's XC/Track & Field

May 9, 2018

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Eighteen competitors and the Florida Atlantic University track and field staff head to the Lone Star State for the 2018 Conference USA Outdoor Championship, hosted this weekend by Rice University at Wendel D. Ley Track in Houston, beginning Thursday afternoon.

The four-day championship boasts the best of the best across the league in a number of events. For the most part, Thursday and Friday are field competitions, with the track athletes taking center stage for preliminaries on Saturday. Sunday plays host to all of the finals and reveals the medal stands for over a dozen races, in addition to field events as well. Throughout the meet, live results will be made available here: http://www.flashresultstexas.com/2018/cusaoutdoor18/.

For the Owls, a number of participants rank among the top contenders in various races and events. Senior Frida Thorsås enters her final conference championship as the top qualifier in the heptathlon, where she has been a medal winner each of the three previous years (first as a freshman and third as a sophomore and junior). She will also enter into the individual javelin and high jump competitions, coming into this weekend ranked fifth and eighth in C-USA, respectively.

Sophomore Anne-Catherine Wasser holds the fourth-fastest time in the conference in the 400 meter hurdles, less than a second and a half out of first. Also ranking in the top 10 is senior Crystal McDougle, in the 100 hurdles, currently placing sixth, and two distance runners are neck-and-neck in the 10,000 meters, as senior Christina Schultz is sixth, and freshman Morgan Graff eighth. Another pair of seniors look to break into their respective Sunday finals, with Sherline Valentin currently ranking 10th in the 400 meters, and Cassidy Smith, 12th in the 100 meter hurdles and 14th in the 400 meter hurdles.

Among other entries of note are junior Erica Lersch, who is entering into the 3,000 meter steeplechase for the first time; senior Liz Wellman, currently 16th in the 1,500 meters; and the 4x400 meter relay team (made up of Valentin, Wasser, Ana Holland and Roshelle Francois), holding the fourth-fastest time among the 13 teams slated to race.

Here is the full list of Owls entered into the 2018 C-USA Championship:

100 meters - McDougle
200 meters - Holland
400 meters - Francois, Valentin, Searra Woods
800 meters - Carydaliz Fontanez, Megan Giovanniello
1,500 meters - Bethany Hardcastle, Wellman
3,000 meter steeplechase - Lersch
5,000 meters - Sophia Clark, Fontanez, Giovanniello, Graff, Hardcastle, Lersch, Schultz, Wellman
10,000 meters - Clark, Graff, Schultz
100 meter hurdles - McDougle, Alessa Sandusky, Smith
400 meter hurdles - Sandusky, Smith, Wasser
4x100 meter relay - Holland, Valentin, McDougle, Wasser
4x400 meter relay - Valentin, Wasser, Holland, Francois
High jump - Thorsås
Long jump - Esther Mitchell
Triple jump - Mitchell
Javelin - Thorsås
Heptathlon - Thorsås