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Rice University
Conference USA Championships
Solares Leads Owls to Third-Place C-USA Finish
5/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
May 14, 2006
El Paso -
Pablo Solares ran a lifetime-best in the 1500-meters, smashing the Conference USA meet record on the final day of the league's outdoor track and field championships Saturday at Kidd Field to help Rice finish third in the team scoring. Solares sprinted away from the field with one lap to go, covering the final 400 in 56.4 to finish at 3:44.43, 2.5 seconds ahead of the runner-up. He later finished third in the 800-meters at 1:50.40 and anchored the Owls' 4x400 relay to a fourth-place finish.
UTEP won the team title with 222 points, with Houston second at 218.5 and Rice third at 104.5.
High jumper Omar Wright tied the school record of 2.19 meters/7-2.25 to win silver and better his own Cayman Islands national record, while Jason Powell was second in the triple jump with a wind-aided leap of 16.16/53-0.25. Devon Fanfair was third behind Powell with a 15.56/51-0.75 effort.
Tyler Whitham raced to bronze in the 110 hurdles with a personal-best 14.40 clocking, and finished second in the pole vault with a lifetime-best clearance of 4.90/16-0.75. Whitham, the Owls' high-point man as a freshman last year at the WAC outdoor meet, cleared 4.75/15-7 on his first attempt immediately following his hurdles race. Freshman Curtis Porter had a huge personal-best of 4.60/15-1 to place fourth.
In the 5000-meters, Charles Hampton completed an impressive distance triple by taking sixth. He was third in the 3000 steeplechase Friday night, and finished fourth in the 10,000 Thursday evening. Bahnsen Miller was seventh in the 400, and Eric Spear placed eighth in the 400 hurdles after falling at the ninth hurdle.
Miller, Spear, Whitham and Solares closed out the championships with a 3:14.30 in the 4x400 to finish fourth.
Rice returns to action in two weeks at the NCAA Midwest Regional championships at the University of Texas in Austin.
Players Mentioned
