DALLAS – For the third straight C-USA outdoor event, Rice’s Michelle Fokam was selected as the Women’s Field Performer of the Meet, and teammate Grace Forbes (women’s track), along with FIU’s Queshun Watson-Riggins (men’s field) and Middle Tennessee’s Jacob Choge (men’s track) were selected as the 2021 Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Performers of the Meet. The event was held in Murfreesboro, Tennessee from May 13-16.
 
Male Track Performer of the Meet – Jacob Choge, Middle Tennessee, Sr., Eldoret, Kenya
Choge was the Male High Point Scorer of the C-USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with 36 individual points, and he claimed two gold medals. Choge finished first in the men’s 10,000-meter event with a C-USA Outdoor Championship record time of 28:58.29. The senior from Eldoret, Kenya also notched gold in the 1,500-meter race, crossing the line in a personal-best 3:42.24. He also collected the silver medal in both the 800-meter (1:51.89) and the 5,000-meter (14:00.48).
 
Male Field Performer of the Meet – Queshun Watson-Riggins, FIU, So., Sebastian, Fla.
Watson-Riggins was one of just a small number of male athletes to earn two victories at the C-USA Championships, as he took gold in both the long jump and triple jump. The sophomore from Sebastian, Florida earned a convincing win in the long jump with his school-record mark of 7.82m. In the triple jump, he won gold with a mark of 15.69m. He also ran a leg on the fourth-place 4x100 squad for the Panthers.
 
Female Track Performer of the Meet – Grace Forbes, Rice, Fr., Wallingford, Pa.
Forbes earned the Female High Point Scorer title at the C-USA Championships, as well as the C-USA Female Freshman of the Meet, as she earned 30 points and claimed three gold medals. The outdoor freshman from Wallingford, Pennsylvania the 10,000-meter with a C-USA Championship record time of 33:50. She followed that up with another C-USA record of 4:14.42 to win the 1500m. She earned her third gold with a victory in the 5000m with a time of 16:19.82. It is the third career indoor or outdoor Performer of the Meet title for Forbes, who was the 2020 and 2021 C-USA Indoor Performer of the Meet.
 
Female Field Performer of the Meet – Michelle Fokam, Rice, Sr., Katy, Texas
Fokam won a pair of C-USA gold medals, which gave her 10 C-USA golds in her illustrious career. The senior from Katy, Texas captured the triple jump with a school-record leap on her final attempt of 13.60m for her third consecutive victory in the C-USA Championship outdoor event. She also won gold in the long jump with a mark of 6.47m. She totaled 20 team points for the runner-up Owls squad. It is the fourth career C-USA indoor or outdoor Performer of the Meet title for Fokam, who was the 2018 and 2019 outdoor and the 2019 indoor Perfomer of the Meet.