Track and Field Hosts Leonard Hilton Invitational

1/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field

Jan. 13, 2011

Leonard Hilton Invitational
Time	Field events 11 a.m, Running events 1 p.m.
Location	Yeoman Fieldhouse University of Houston Athletics/Alumni Center Houston, Texas
Heat Sheets	Here
Meet Info	Here
Live Results	Flash Results
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HOUSTON - The 2011 University of Houston track and field indoor season resumes Friday as the Cougars host the Leonard Hilton Invitational inside Yeoman Fieldhouse at the Athletics/Alumni Center. The field events begin at 11 a.m., and the running events start at 1 p.m.

The Cougars will host Houston Baptist, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, Nicholls State (women), Prairie View A&M, Rice, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas Southern, UTSA, Bethune-Cookman at Friday's meet.

The meet will be scored to eight places (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1).

After capturing the men's 2010 Conference USA Indoor Championship for the fourth consecutive year and their 11th title in 14 years, the Cougars are anxious to return to action and defend their home turf. The women's team has won five conference titles and look to build off last season's third place-finish.

PREVIOUS MEET
Houston began its indoor season at the Texas A&M Reveille Invitational on Dec. 11. The meet was not scored, but the Cougars earned two first-place finishes, both in the pole vault. Karley King recorded the second-highest clearance in UH women's indoor history with her 3.81m/12-6 vault. Alex Bentley earned the title in the men's competition. Both vaults were meet records.

The men's 4x400m relay team (Kevin Furlough, Doug Kelley, Joseph Irabor and Errol Nolan) set n indoor school record after finishing in 3:08.52, besting a record set in 1997.

TICKET INFORMATION
Fans wishing to purchase admission to the event must enter through the front door of the Athletics/Alumni Center. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for youths between 3 years of age and high school. Spectator seating is limited and available on a first-come first-serve basis.

LEONARD HILTON
Leonard Hilton came to the University of Houston from Houston's Austin High School. An outstanding distance runner for the Cougars from 1967-71, Hilton was an All-American and school record-setting runner. Hilton earned All-America honors in the 3-mile run in 1971 with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

His performance at the NCAA meet came after he set school records in five different events. He holds school records in the mile (3:59.64), two-mile run (8:42.3), three-mile run (13:04.3) and the six-mile run (28:30). In addition to those records, Hilton ran the anchor leg on Houston's 1970 distance medley relay team that set the current school record of 9:34.0.

He is the only UH runner and first Texan to break the 4-minute barrier in the mile and attained the feat 32 times. After completing his running career at Houston, Hilton ran for the 1972 United States Olympic Team at Munich, Germany. He qualified for the team with a third-place finish in the 5,000 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Hilton qualified for the 1972 USA Olympic team and he finished third in the 5,000 meter run at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.

During his running career, Hilton was a two-time American champion in the mile in 1973 and 1975. In 1970, as part of his training, Hilton entered and won the American National Marathon.

After winning the mile for the second time at the USA Championships in 1975, Hilton helped form the Houston Harriers as a national and international championship caliber running club.

Hilton earned his degree in engineering from UH and later served as vice president of operations with Kinder Morgan Energy and Enron Corp.