Feb. 17, 2006
HOUSTON - UTA senior pole vaulter Shay Collett finally broke through the glass ceiling.
Not literally, but the ceiling that had plagued his track career over the last year. Injuries, frustration set in after setting the school-record with a vault of 17-4.25 during the 2004 outdoor season.
Saturday's vault of 16-07.50 in a jump off with Sam Houston's Matt Atkisson was the best effort since that record-setting effort almost two years ago and helped UTA to a second place after the opening day of the 2006 SLC Indoor Track Championships here.
Saturday's competition begins with the continuation of the heptathlon at 8:30 a.m. The day's field events will start at 11 a.m. with running finals slated for 1:30 p.m.
Joining Collett on the awards stand Friday night was junior Quinchun Carey. Carey, an NCAA long jump qualifier during the outdoor season in 2005, captured gold with a leap of 24-01.75 for the indoor crown.
UTA's 33 points is second to Stephen F. Austin's 63. The rest of the league falls in the following order: McNeese State (29.5), Sam Houston State (28.33), Northwestern State (23), Texas State (15.16), Louisiana-Monroe (15), UT-San Antonio 14, Southeastern Louisiana (12) and Lamar (1).
Among those to qualifying for Saturday's running finals is junior Jared Connaughton. He clocked the fastest prelim time with a 6.68 time in Friday's semifinals. Connaughton also clipped the 200 meter field by more than two-tenths of a second with a 21.65.
Jacob Cedertun advanced to Saturday's 800 meter and mile run finals. Freshman Idilio Campos and Davis Tagi also advanced to Saturday's 800-meter final. Jon McDowell and Ed Broadnax will compete in the 60-meter hurdle finals after qualifying times.
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