I realize that it may seem silly to do the preview after Day 1, but as the events were moved up today, I had no chance to post this earlier. Plus, no events were scored today, and the multis were proceeding as I expected.

Men

Team Scores

1. UTEP 172
2. Houston 163
3. Tulsa 120
4. Memphis 117
5. Rice 99
6. East Carolina 69
7. So. Miss. 34
8. Tulane 30

Sprints

This is the battle for the team championships, as both Houston and UTEP are loaded in this area. Rice won't get a point.

Middle Distance / Distance

This is where the points spread out a little, but Tulsa racks up plenty of points, as does UTEP. Look for Rice freshman Harry Sagel in the 800, Travis Roberts in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, John Cavallo in the 5,000 and Gabe Cuadra in the 10,000 meters. I really think Gabe has a chance to win.

Hurdles

Plenty of scoring by Houston and Memphis. Nothing for Rice.

Relays

8th place for Rice in both relays. Sorry, Barney.

Jumps

Mark Jackson, the top triple jumper in the conference, has entered the long jump. If he could finish 2nd or 3rd in the long jump, that may the clinching points for UTEP. Look for Rice's Tyler Wiest and Jack Spinks in the high jump, and Ben Pressley in the long jump.

Throws

Sammons of Tulsa should win the shot put and discus, but Rice's Alex Zinchenko could pull the upset in the discus. I really don't know the status of freshman javelin thrower Evan Karakolis. If healthy, he would win, but I'd have to give the edge to Olsson of UTEP.

Pole Vault

Chris Pillow of Rice is the favorite to win.

Decathlon

I expected it to be Clayton Chaney of Rice, Luis Hassler of Memphis and Chris Sanders of Rice going 1-2-3.

Women

Team Scores

1. UCF 135
2. SMU 124
3. UTEP 86
4. Memphis 76
5. UAB 66
6. Rice 61
7. Houston 56
East Carolina 56
9. Marshall 55
10. Tulane 46
11. So. Miss. 30
12. Tulsa 25

Sprints

UCF is probably the second best sprint team in the nation, behind only Texas A&M. They will dominate, with 1-2 in both the 100 and 200, along with 3rd in the 400. SMU has some good sprinters, and should pick up plenty of points. Tyneshia McCoy of Rice should be a finalist in the 400.

Middle Distance / Distance

Points are spread out here, but a surprisingly good showing by UAB will lift them into the top half of the team scoring. I consider Heather Olson of Rice to be the favorite in the steeplechase. Marie Thompson could finish in the top 4 in the 10K.

Hurdles

UCF will win both the 100 and 400 meter hurdles. No Rice points..

Relays

I think 7th for Rice in the 4 x 100 and 8th in the 4 x 400.

Jumps

UCF and Memphis pick up more points here. None for Rice.

Throws

The big area for Rice points. There will be a big contest in the shot put between Claire Uke of Rice and Helena Perez of SMU. Sharae Robinson and Uke in the discus should score, as should Robinson in the hammer.

Pole Vault

An injury to Rice freshman sensation McKenzie Johnson should give Merritt Van Meter of Tulane the edge. But, we'll see.

Heptathlon

Nothing for Rice.

On the men's side, had Houston not "dropped" the baton on the 4 x 400 meter relay, I would have had all placements correct. UTEP and Houston were battling for the lead, way ahead of all teams, when, with about 80 meters left, the UTEP anchor jostled the UH anchor, causing the stick to go to the ground. I was watching it and thought it was intentional, but Houston's protest was denied (I don't think the officials saw it). In any event, East Carolina moved into 2nd in the relay, and bumped the Rice men from 5th to 6th in the overall standings.

Chris Pillow came through with a great victory in the pole vault, with former Rice All-America Jason Colwick in attendance (and volunteering to put bars back in place, etc.)

Alex Zinchenko had a really good meet with a 2nd in the discus and 4th in the shot put. Both Tyler Wiest and Jack Spinks scored in the high jump, while freshman Harry Sagel grabbed 6th in the 800 meters. Spinks also was 8th in the javelin, while freshman Evan Karakolis managed 6th in his first throws in almost 2 months. Ben Pressley was 6th in the long jump.

Clayton Chaney was outstanding in winning the Decathlon, and is assured of competing in the NCAA Championships (there is no Decathlon at the NCAA West or East Regional). Chris Sanders managed 6th.

For the women, I correctly picked UCF and SMU for 1-2. I also guessed Rice would finish in 6th with 61 points, but they were 8th with 56. A little unfortunate in the steeplechase, as Heather Olson fell going over a barrier and Halsey Fowler fell in the water jump (both within 15 seconds, about halfway through the race). To their credit, they did not give up, as Fowler managed 5th and Olson 6th. I thought they had a realistic chance to go 2-3, and think they would have. That would have been 14 points rather than 7. Bummer for Halsey since she was fit enough to make a regional qualifying time (she is a 5th year senior). Heather is a junior.

Some great individual results in the throws, capped by Sharae Robinson's LIFETIME best in winning the discus! She also was 7th in the hammer throw. Claire Uke was 2nd in the shot put and 4th in the discus.

McKenzie Johnson came back from an injury suffered just a couple of weeks ago to capture 3rd in the pole vault. She had not been able to practice in all of that time. Really gutsy effort.

Tyneisha McCoy (400) and Lillian Nwora (800) managed nice 6th place finishes.