University of Houston Athletics
Cougars to Face Top Competition at Rod McCravy Memorial
1/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Lexington, Ky. â€" The Houston Cougar men's and women's track and field teams will face some of the top competition in the country when they travel to the Rod McCravy Memorial Invitational hosted by the University of Kentucky on Friday, Jan. 22, and Saturday, Jan. 23, in Lexington, Ky.
Action in the two-day event begins on Friday, Jan. 22 at 10 a.m., with the men's heptathlon 60 meter dash, followed by the women's pentathlon 60 meter hurdles at 10:10 a.m. Non-multis competition is slated to start at 3 p.m., Friday with the men's weight. Running events on the first day of completion kick off with the women's 200 meter at 6:10 p.m.
Saturday's action begins with the conclusion of the men's heptathlon at 10 a.m. Individual events will begin an hour later with the women's shot put and women's triple jump at 11 a.m. Running events kick off at noon with the women's and men's 60m hurdles. The full meet schedule can be found HERE. All times for the event are Eastern Standard Time.
The Rod McCravy Memorial will feature 10 teams currently ranked in the USTFCCCA National Rankings including the Houston men's team at No. 25. The remaining ranked teams include No. 1 Florida, No. 6 Georgia, and No. 18 Virginia on the men's side as well as No. 2 Georgia, No. 6 Florida, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 11 Baylor, No. 17 Miami and No. 22 Clemson on the women's side. The meet is also scheduled to include teams from Harvard, Illinois, Missouri and Western Kentucky.
The Cougars return to action exactly one week after opening the 2016 slate at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational, where the Cougars set 36 personal records in front of their home fans, Junior sprinter Cameron Burrell led the charge after running a meet record 6.55 in the 60 meter dash which currently stands as the No. 1 time in the world according to IAAF.
Sophomore high jumper Diayja Sheppard also had a successful opening weekend to the New Year, posting a personal best 5'10" (1.78m) leap to win the event, defeating 5-time Olympian Amy Acuff along the way. Both Sheppard, who ranks No. 18 in the nation in the high jump this season, and Burrell are scheduled to be in action during the weekend.
NOTABLE COUGARS
A number of Cougars ranked in the top-40 in the nation are scheduled to be in competition this weekend. In the sprints LeShon Collins (No. 7) will join Burrell (No. 1) in the 60m dash, while Curtis Brown (No. 39) will compete in the 200.
Houston has a trio of 60-meter hurdlers ranked in the nation's top-35, all of which will compete in Lexington. All-American Issac Williams (No. 10) returns to action after resting through last week's Leonard Hilton, while freshmen Amere Lattin (No. 24), and Marcus McWilliams (No. 34) will also run the hurdles.
The nation's No. 19 ranked athlete in the 200 meter dash on the women's side, Tori Williams will be in action alongside No. 18 Sheppard in the high jump.
NATIONALLY RANKED SIGNING CLASS
The Cougars made noise throughout the entire offseason when the men's signing class was ranked as the No. 2 class in the nation by Flotrack last July. The current freshmen on campus are led by three incoming student-athletes on the MileSplit All-American team. Marcus McWilliams (110m hurdles), Gerald Mills (200m) and John Lewis III (100m) all earned All-America honors, while distance runner Jahnavi Schneider was named as the No. 3 cross country recruit in the state of Texas by TxRunning.com.
UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
Houston returns home to host the Houston Invitational Jan 29-30 at the Yeoman Fieldhouse on campus. The two-day meet is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., on Friday and 9 a.m., on Saturday.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS
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Players Mentioned
