UH will host the Conference USA Indoor Track and Field Championships for the seventh consecutive year Friday and Saturday at Yeoman Fieldhouse.
The men’s team is looking to repeat last year’s conference-winning performance while the women attempt to reclaim the championship title, which they haven’t won since 2005.
Junior Seun Adigun, who won the 60-meter hurdles title last year, will be one of the keys to helping the women achieve their goal.
"I believe it is possible," Adigun said. "Unfortunately, we do not have the depth that we would like, and that would make the job of winning the conference easier."
However, Adigun said that wouldn’t stop the team.
"Despite that truth, we are a very talented group of young women, and I believe with a burst of positive energy, we will be able to prove a lot of people wrong."
Aside from the team goals she has set, Adigun also has personal goals she wants to accomplish at the meet.
"I am very close to my ultimate goal of becoming an indoor 60-meter hurdle All-American, but in order to live up to that goal I would have to run a time of 8.1 or 8 seconds," she said. "I would like to run as fast as my legs will take me."
Adigun knows that if she succeeds in reaching that time, she will set the record in the event for not only UH, but also the conference.
"I am really looking forward to trying to accomplish that feat," she said. "I would also like to channel that energy to my teammates to help us gain momentum as a unit to win a conference championship."
The men’s team will take their lead from senior Ivan Diggs, who is looking to win the conference title in the high jump. Diggs was the runner-up in the championships last year, but finished this year’s regular season with four consecutive wins in this event.
However, the veteran Cougars are not only role models to the underclassmen on the field.
Senior cross country runner Stephen Magness also sets an example in the classroom. He was named to the 2007 NCAA Division I Men’s All Academic Team by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the first time in his collegiate career.
"This is an outstanding honor for Steve and his family. Steve is a prime example of what we are trying to achieve as a program on both an academic and athletic level. Hopefully, this is a trend that continues within our program," head cross country coach Ryan Turner said.
