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Saturday, February 20
Birmingham, AL
All Day
Rice University
vs
C-USA Indoor Championships
Hicks, Slinkman Highlight Day One at CUSA Indoors
2/20/2021 9:00:00 PM | Men's Track & Field
Owls sit in second place
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Rice thrower Nick Hicks and vaulter Alex Slinkman each recorded victories on day one of the Conference USA Indoor Championships to help the Owls accumulate 55 team points and enter championship Sunday in second place as a team.
Hicks, from San Marcos, Texas, established a lifetime best and broke the school record with a heave of 21.30m (69-10.75) in the weight throw on his final attempt, besting the previous Rice record held by Austin Riddle (20.13m). Hicks claimed his first ever C-USA title by defeating Charlotte's Jurcek Korpic Lesjak by nearly two full meters.
Slinkman, a native of Mechanicsville, Va, was part of a Rice trio that finished 1-2-3 in the pole vault, collecting 24 team points in that event alone. Slinkman earned his first career title by clearing a lifetime best mark of 5.19m (17-00.25) on his third and final attempt, which proved to be the winning height. Fellow teammates Thomas Pratt (5.04m) and Natan Rivera (5.04m) also earned all-conference honors in the event, placing second and third respectively.
The Owls closed out the night in style with a rally in the distance medley relay, placing second overall with a time of 10:12.53. The foursome of Andrew Abikhaled, Keegan O'Connor, Jason Bugg, and Alex Topini closed strong to garner eight team points. Topini also qualified for Sunday's finals in the mile earlier in the day.
Freshman Ese Amata earned five key points for the Owls with a fourth place finish in the high jump in his first career C-USA Championship. The Owls also picked up five points in the 5000m with Hociel Landa finishing fifth (14:41) and an eighth place result by Ace Castillo (14:57) while in the weight throw, freshmen Cal Abdulky (16.15m) and Shaun Kerry (16.15m) placing seventh and eighth, respectively.
Rice started the day with four competitors in the heptathlon and Corbett Fong will enter Sunday in third place after totaling 2662 points, followed by Dillon Stewart in fourth place (2452 points).
"Today was impressive, specifically the pole vault, Nick Hicks, and our DMR," Rice head coach Jon Warren said. "Going 1-2-3 in the pole vault is huge. That whole group was amazing and in different ways they were all very impressive. Nick was spectacular and his mark currently ranks 15th in the NCAA. And the DMR did really, really well. Alex Topini's surge from fifth place to second place was very exciting and a great run for sure. Others that were impressive were Ese snagging fourth in a very good high jump, our two freshmen getting points in the weight throw, and Hociel's very impressive 5k. Today was a very good day for the Owls."
Scheduled Rice Men's Competitors (all times CT)
Finals (Sun. 8:30 a.m.) - Heptathlon - Chance Allshouse, Corbett Fong, Keegan O'Connor, Dillon Stewart
Finals (Sun. 12 p.m.) - Mile - Alex Topini
Finals (Sun. 1:50 p.m.) - 3000m - Andrew Abikhaled, Ace Castillo, Travis Dowd, Hociel Landa, Andrew Murray, Alex Topini
Finals (Sun. 2:30 p.m.) - Shot Put - Jorge Hinojosa, Christopher Rivera, Samuel Woodley
Finals (Sun. 2:40 p.m.) - 4x400 Relay
-RiceOwls.com-
Hicks, from San Marcos, Texas, established a lifetime best and broke the school record with a heave of 21.30m (69-10.75) in the weight throw on his final attempt, besting the previous Rice record held by Austin Riddle (20.13m). Hicks claimed his first ever C-USA title by defeating Charlotte's Jurcek Korpic Lesjak by nearly two full meters.
Slinkman, a native of Mechanicsville, Va, was part of a Rice trio that finished 1-2-3 in the pole vault, collecting 24 team points in that event alone. Slinkman earned his first career title by clearing a lifetime best mark of 5.19m (17-00.25) on his third and final attempt, which proved to be the winning height. Fellow teammates Thomas Pratt (5.04m) and Natan Rivera (5.04m) also earned all-conference honors in the event, placing second and third respectively.
The Owls closed out the night in style with a rally in the distance medley relay, placing second overall with a time of 10:12.53. The foursome of Andrew Abikhaled, Keegan O'Connor, Jason Bugg, and Alex Topini closed strong to garner eight team points. Topini also qualified for Sunday's finals in the mile earlier in the day.
Freshman Ese Amata earned five key points for the Owls with a fourth place finish in the high jump in his first career C-USA Championship. The Owls also picked up five points in the 5000m with Hociel Landa finishing fifth (14:41) and an eighth place result by Ace Castillo (14:57) while in the weight throw, freshmen Cal Abdulky (16.15m) and Shaun Kerry (16.15m) placing seventh and eighth, respectively.
Rice started the day with four competitors in the heptathlon and Corbett Fong will enter Sunday in third place after totaling 2662 points, followed by Dillon Stewart in fourth place (2452 points).
"Today was impressive, specifically the pole vault, Nick Hicks, and our DMR," Rice head coach Jon Warren said. "Going 1-2-3 in the pole vault is huge. That whole group was amazing and in different ways they were all very impressive. Nick was spectacular and his mark currently ranks 15th in the NCAA. And the DMR did really, really well. Alex Topini's surge from fifth place to second place was very exciting and a great run for sure. Others that were impressive were Ese snagging fourth in a very good high jump, our two freshmen getting points in the weight throw, and Hociel's very impressive 5k. Today was a very good day for the Owls."
Scheduled Rice Men's Competitors (all times CT)
Finals (Sun. 8:30 a.m.) - Heptathlon - Chance Allshouse, Corbett Fong, Keegan O'Connor, Dillon Stewart
Finals (Sun. 12 p.m.) - Mile - Alex Topini
Finals (Sun. 1:50 p.m.) - 3000m - Andrew Abikhaled, Ace Castillo, Travis Dowd, Hociel Landa, Andrew Murray, Alex Topini
Finals (Sun. 2:30 p.m.) - Shot Put - Jorge Hinojosa, Christopher Rivera, Samuel Woodley
Finals (Sun. 2:40 p.m.) - 4x400 Relay
-RiceOwls.com-
Players Mentioned
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance/Steeple
/ Men's Track & Field
Combined Events
/ Men's Track & Field
High Jump
/ Men's Track & Field
Middle Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Combined Events
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Combined Events
/ Men's Track & Field
Pole Vault/Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
/ Men's Track & Field
Pole Vault/Sprints
/ Men's Track & Field
Pole Vault
/ Men's Track & Field
Decathlon
/ Men's Track & Field
Distance
/ Men's Track & Field
Throws
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