Track and Field Announces 2011 Signing Class

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HOUSTON - The University of Houston track and field program announced their 2011 signing class Tuesday. Head coach Leroy Burrell and the rest of the Cougar coaching staff inked 15 new student-athletes looking to leave their legacy on the storied

Of the 15 signees, 14 hail from the Lone Star State. All but one student-athlete are high school students, with being a junior college transfer. Seven future Cougars are from the Houston area while the furthest high school away from the Houston campus is 255 miles away (Baton Rogue High School).

SPRINTERS/HURDLERS
Dominique Brisco, Alicia Perkins and Kiera Walton are the three newest additions to the women's sprint program. Brisco and Walton are hurdle champions and participate in the field events while Perkins high school career was marked by success in the sprint and relay races.

For the men, Dominique Charles, Randy Forest and MarkQuis Frazier add even more depth to a deep and talented men's sprint group. Forest was the runner-up in the 400m at the state meet last year and was the fastest junior in the Houston area in the event. Charles was a three-time state finalist in the 400 and 4x00m. Frazier, the lone junior college commit, is a two-time state finalist from his high school days, and was a member of the 2009-10 NJCAA National Indoor Champions.

DISTANCE
The women picked a pair of Top 25 runners in the state with Taylor Beer and Alexis Vick. Both runners come central Texas with Beer a Round Rock native and Vick a San Antonio resident.

The men added Anthony Coleman, Sam Dufford and Yonas Tesfai to the distance program. Coleman and Tesfai rank as the top-two distance runners in the city of Houston.

FIELD
Three state champions fill out the field for the women. Brisco, a champion and even more impressive, USATF Junior Olympic Finalist in the Long Jump and Triple Jump, will be a top-flight competitor for Houston. Brittany Kinney is a two-time Texas state triple jump champion while Samantha Taylor is a three-time champion in the shot put. Khalysia Mayo won her district in the high jump and registered the 10th highest jump in the nation last year.

John Horton, a state finalist in the triple jump, will bolster the men's side.

Women
Name	Event	Hometown	Previous School
Taylor Beer	Distance	Round Rock, Texas	McNeil High School
Dominique Brisco	Hurdles/Jumps	Baton Rouge, Louis.	Baton Rouge High School
Brittany Kinney	Jumps	Karnes City, Texas	Karnes City High School
Khalysia Mayo	High Jump	Spring, Texas	Spring Westfield High School
Alicia Perkins	Sprints	Houston, Texas	Alief Elsik High School
Samantha Taylor	Throws	Corrigan, Texas	Corrigan-Camden High School
Alexis Vick	Distance	San Antonio, Texas	Brandeis High School
Kiera Walton	Hurdles/Jumps	Cypress Springs, Texas	Cypress Springs High School

Men
Name	Event	Hometown	Previous School
Dominique Charles	Sprints	Pearland, Texas	Pearland Dawson High School
Anthony Coleman	Distance	Houston, Texas	Alief Elsik High School
Sam Dufford	Distance	Magnolia, Texas	Magnolia High School
Randy Forest	Sprints	Houston, Texas	Willowridge High School
MarkQuis Frazier	Sprints	Lancaster, Texas	Barton County Community College
John Horton	Jumps	Copperas Cove, Texas	Copperas Cove High School
Yonas Tesfai	Distance	Houston, Texas	Westbury High School