Six Cougars participated in the Arkansas Last Chance meet on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.
Junior Seun Adigun finished first place in the 60-meter dash in 8.23 seconds. The time was an improvement on her NCAA provisional mark.
"Honestly, when I first crossed the finish line I thought to myself, ‘Who won this race?’ because myself and another girl were so close," Adigun said.
After a four-minute wait, Adigun finally realized she was the winner.
"When they finally put the times up and I saw that I was first, I was overwhelmed with several emotions," she said. "First, I was upset because I really wanted to run a time of 8.1 seconds. Then, I was happy that I won."
Even though she did not meet her time goal at this meet, it remains her focus for the nationals.
"My ultimate goal for nationals, of course, is to become an NCAA All-American," Adigun said. "In order to do that I know I have to run at least 8.16 seconds, so I’m going for it."
The men’s jumping team sent four of its members to compete. C-USA Male Freshman of the Year Ed Turner competed in the long jump, finishing seventh with a jump of 6.98 meters (22 feet, 11 inches).
In the triple jump, freshman Thomas Lang, junior Jeremy Kelley, and freshman Chris Carter finished in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.
The Cougars will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Senior Ivan Diggs will make his second appearance at the championships in the men’s high jump.
Adigun, who was the C-USA Indoor Champion for 60-meter hurdles in 2007, will compete in the event again.
UH head coach Leroy Burrell has high hopes for both athletes.
"I’m really proud of both of them. Both are strong leaders and work extremely hard," Burrell said. "Ivan has an excellent shot to score high. He’s in a good position and he’s got a great chance to reach the podium. Seun has got a little work to do, but I have no doubts that she can succeed.
"We’re proud of both of them. We want both of them to score and that’s our objective for this weekend."
