Jan. 15, 2006

HOUSTON, Texas - Junior sprinter Jared Connaughton (Charlottetown, Canada) became the first Maverick this season to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships with a 6.23 seconds in the 55-meter dash and capped off the day with his first win as a Maverick, claiming the 200 meters to highlight the day at the Houston Indoor Opener at the Bill Yeoman Field House here Saturday.

Connaughton, who won two gold medals at the Canada National Games last summer, clocked a time of 21.51 to capture the race and narrowly miss the provisional-qualifying time of 21.48. The time is the fourth fastest indoor 200 in school history and the fastest time since a record-setting time of 20.64 by all-American Elston Cawley in 1998.

Other top performances include:

• Senior Jacob Cedertun with a second-place finish in the 800 meters (1:54.00).

• Junior Quinchun Carey leaping 23-feet, 04-inches for third place in the long jump.

• Freshman Andrew Duncan III began his collegiate career with a fifth-place finish in the high jump (6-9 1/2).

• Freshman Wade Hayes cleared 15-7 for eighth place in the pole vault

• Junior John McDowell (7.62) and senior Adam Stafford (7.68) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 55-meter hurdles.

UTA heads to Lubbock for the Wes Kitley Invitational on Friday and the Texas Tech Six-Way Invitational on Saturday. The Southland Conference Indoor Track Championships are Feb. 17-18 in Houston.