The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Track Team Heads To Houston For Conference USA Championships
5/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
May 11, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB track and field team travels to Houston, Texas this week to compete at the 2011 Conference USA Championships.
The four-day event will begin on Thursday, May 12 at the Hollyway Field and Ley Track on the campus of Rice University.
The first event on the meet schedule will be the heptathlon as competition commences at 1 p.m. CT, moved up from the original time of 4 p.m. due to the threat of inclement weather.
Blazer sophomore Akira McSwain finished as the C-USA runner-up in the event last May and again is expected to challenge for top honors.
"Akira has improved in many areas and we're looking for her to put it all together in the heptathlon," UAB head coach Kurt Thomas.
The heptathlon will conclude on Friday when the first individual running event -- the 10,000-meter run -- is also staged. UAB junior Rhiannon Johns is the defending champion in the 10,000 having clocked a time of 35:07.25 in the race a year ago.
Johns will enter Friday's race with a personal-best time of 34:14.04 she ran in March at the Stanford Invitational. Senior Stephanie Gammon is another formidable runner for UAB in the 10,000, having finished third in the event two years ago.
"Rhi has been running on another level and will go out on Friday to defend her conference title in the 10k," said Thomas.
Blazer senior Bianca LeBlanc returns to hometown of Houston this weekend and hopes to get back to the medal stand as she achieved in 2010 when she finished third in the 800-meter run. UAB junior Lauren Fayen comes into the conference meet with one of the league's top 800-meter times this spring (2:09.81).
The meet schedule will move into full gear Saturday when a full slate of running events are held, as well as finals in several field events. The meet will wrap up on Sunday with finals being run in most events.
"For most of our athletes, this is the culmination of our season," Thomas said. "We are coming into the meet pretty healthy and have had some real good performances over the past couple of meets. Everyone has been training well.
"Now, the hay is in the barn and there isn't much else to do except go out and compete up to our abilities. We have a few seniors who are at their last conference championships. Stephanie Gammon and Bianca LeBlanc have done so much during their time here and are looking to do it one more time this weekend."
UAB finished seventh in the final standings in 2010 but just six points from fifth. UCF is the defending women's champion and comes into the meet ranked No. 17 nationally in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll.
"Our girls are here to make the finals and score points," Thomas said, "and we have athletes in place to do that. Our coaching staff is excited to see them go out there and perform."
