University of Houston Athletics
Trio of Cougars Win American Weekly Honors
12/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
PROVIDENCE â€" Brian Barraza (track), Cameron Burrell (field) and Tori Williams (track) have been named American Athletic Conference Track Athletes of the Week for their performances at the Texas A&M Reveille Invitational, the league office announced Tuesday.
Barraza became the first American-born athlete in history to run his first sub-4 minute mile while in December competition, when he crossed the line in 3:58.66 to win the event by more than 17 seconds. The El Paso, Texas, native's time broke the school record of 3:59.64 set by Olympian Leonard Hilton in 1971.
Barraza's time landed him No. 1 on the collegiate list for the mile early in the season, and he now owns five program records for the Cougars. He also owns indoor records in the 3,000-meters (7:59.66, 2016) and 5,000-meters (14:23.29, 2014) as well as outdoor records in the 5,000-meters (13:52.52, 2016) and 10,000-meters (29:04.11, 2016). The senior was also named USTFCCCA National Track Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, and Barraza has now won five American weekly honors.
Cameron Burrell made his return to the long jump pit with a leap of 24-7.0 (7.49m) to win the competition in College Station. Burrell's mark helped the Cougars sweep the men's and women's long jump competition and places him sixth on the NCAA performance list this season. The award for Burrell is the fourth American weekly honor of his career.
Tori Williams opened her senior season in the 200-meter dash, competing against some of the top sprinters in the country at the invitational. The Plaquemine, La., native ran 24.15 to finish fourth in the event and clock the seventh fastest time in the nation this season. The honor for Williams marks the first in her career.
Houston won 13 American Athlete of the Week honors throughout the 2015-16 season, including 11 male track athlete of the week honors.
UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
The Cougars will enjoy a month break from competition before returning to host their first of three indoor meets with the Leonard Hilton Invitational on Jan. 13. The Cougars will also welcome teams to Yeoman Fieldhouse on Jan. 27-28 for the Houston Invitational and on Feb. 10 for the Howie Ryan Invitational.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the Track & Field team has established its own official Facebook (facebook.com/HoustonCougarTrackandField) and Twitter pages ().
Players Mentioned
