Jan. 12, 2008

HOUSTON, Texas ----- The UAB track and field team was paced by the performances of seniors Elizabeth Ambrus, Genoah Collins, and Penny Shields as the Blazers captured third place at the Houston Opener Saturday.

Ambrus was the Blazers top performer, as she broke the school record and placed second in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:35.88, six seconds faster than her previous mark. The new record was one second shy of automatically qualifying Ambrus for the NCAA Indoor National Championship. She now holds the top-five fastest time in the 3,000-meter run in UAB history.

Collins won the one-mile run with a time of 5:03.75 and set a new personal best in the event. She also guided UAB to the the distance medley relay title, as she ran the first leg of the "A" team that finished the event in 11:58.35. UAB's second team in the event placed second. Shields, who redshirted last year, won the triple jump with distance of 12.33 meters.

"Overall I thought this was a very good meet for us," head coach Ray Stanfield said. "We had solid performances from our seniors who really stepped up and led the way for us. This is a special group of girls."

Other seniors with top performances included Erika Russ placing fourth in the 60-meter hurdles, Whitney Mays finishing seventh in the 3,000-meter run and Tara Colvin's eighth-place finish in the 200-meter dash.

UAB scored 84 points in its first trip to compete in the Houston Opener since 2005. Conference USA foe Houston won the meet scoring 141 points, while Texas placed second with 125 points.

Other top performances included Alina Varpiotaite capturing third in the 400-meter dash, Erica Whitby's third-place finish in the high jump, and the UAB "A" team placing fourth in the 4x400-meter relay.

The Blazers will next compete in the East Tennessee State University Invitational beginning on Jan. 18 in Johnson City, Tenn.