New Orleans (05/14/05) Top qualifiers Ciji Brooks and Kory Williams kept the North Texas track and field team in contention for the title in the second day of action at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Championships.

Brooks ran the second fastest 100-meter hurdles in school history in today’s preliminaries, earning the top spot for Sunday’s finals. The junior finished in 13.81, and now owns four of the top six runs in the history of the program. Brooks also finished third in the shot put on a toss of 13.86-meters (45-05.75).

Williams had the fastest qualifying time in the 400-meter hurdles. The senior finished in 51.53, the fifth fastest time in school history, and will also have the top spot for Sunday’s finals.

“We looked really good today,” said Mean Green head coach Rick Watkins. “Everyone seems to be running well and hopefully we can keep this up tomorrow.”

The Mean Green women sit in second place with 46 points heading into the final day of the meet, while the men are in sixth with 22.

Jessica Moore smashed the school pole vault record by six inches in a fourth place finish. Moore’s vault of 3.30-meters (10-10.00) topples her teammate Sarah Sandgren’s record set last season.

Bonnie McKernan held off the competition in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to bring home the gold. The sophomore finished with a career best time of 11:02.82.

Rhonda Williams is the only Mean Green athlete to qualify for the NCAA Regional Meet during the meet. The senior qualified in the long jump after earning a third place finish on a leap of 6.04-meters (19-09.75). Williams’ leap is the fifth best in school history.

The Mean Green will compete in the meet finals on Sunday, with field events beginning at 10 am and the running events starting at 6 pm.