Track & Field

All-American jumper to test skills against pros at USA meet

Chris Carter finished his UH career by becoming a two-time All-American with top eight finishes at the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships, adding to his eight individual Conference USA championships.

Carter’s impressive senior season helped him capture indoor and outdoor C-USA Male Field Athlete of the Year as well as Male Cougar of the Year. His haul of awards and medals gives him the validation of a job well done.

“There’s a lot of hardware at the house now,” Carter said.

“It makes me feel like my career at UH was worth something.”

Carter enjoyed success early in his UH career, but had his best showings in his last season. He credits his progression by gaining a more comprehensive knowledge of his event with the assistance of head coach Leroy Burrell.

“I felt like I wasn’t getting any better. I had to find out what I was doing,” Carter said. “I always worked hard, but hard work wasn’t getting there so I had to think about what I was doing.

“Coach helped me with more than training. He taught me a few things about how to handle confidence, and how important executing proper technique is.”


Carter is one of three Cougars who will be competing at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships beginning tomorrow in Eugene, Ore.

He will participate in the long jump, sprinter Errol Nolan will run the 400-meter dash and Grecia Bolton will run the 100-meter dash.

With his college eligibility over, Carter is trying to jump professionally. Unlike basketball and football, Carter will not be drafted or signed to a specific team.

Instead, he needs a performance solid enough to get noticed from shoe companies and gain a sponsorship.

For Carter, his newest challenge is to focus solely on his next competition.

“It’s pretty simple to me,” he said. “The next step is to jump far enough before I worry about all of that.

“If I don’t jump far enough, no one will come to me. I’m just trying to perform and move on to the next meet.”

Carter was the indoor and outdoor C-USA champion in the long jump, but now that he does not have to worry about scoring points for UH — he can concentrate on his preferred event.

“I hate the long jump. I just did it for the team,” he said.

“I’m just focusing on the triple jump now. That’s what I feel like is my best event, and I have the best chance to qualify for the world games.”



With the majority of the track and field team away on summer vacation, Carter finds himself training alone under the supervision of Burrell. The extra attenton could pay dividends for Carter moving forward.

“Without my teammates I get a lot of one-on-one time with coach Burrell, which makes a big difference right now,” Carter said.

The meet begins at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, with the preliminaries for the triple jump starting at 3:55 p.m.

Leave a Comment