University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships
Back-to-Back! Houston Men Claim American Title
2/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Houston Men's Indoor Track and Field program defended its crown Monday as it claimed its 17th indoor conference title at The American Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Totaling 152 points to earn the back-to-back win, Houston was led by four individual champions - junior Brian Barraza (3,000-meter run), junior Cameron Burrell (60-meter dash), freshman Marcus McWilliams (60-meter hurdles) and sophomore Felipe Valencia (shot put) - to give the program its 30th overall conference championship when paired with its 13 outdoor crowns. The Houston women finished ninth with 35 points.
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For the second straight year, The American title would come down to a dramatic finish with the two final events on the track, the men's 3,000 and 4x400 relay, determining the Houston win.
Already the program record holder in the event, Barraza became the first athlete in Houston history to capture a conference title in the 3K, running a composed race early before taking over the pace late and running away with the event with a time of 8:15.99 to give Houston 10 key points. Senior James Broussard joined Barraza in scoring in the event with a time of 8:32.10 to finish eighth overall.
Following Barraza's win, the men's 4x400-meter relay stepped onto the track knowing that a fourth-place finish or better would seal the conference crown, regardless of how its competitors fared. It did just that, finishing fourth overall with a time of 3:14.04 to secure the program's second straight conference title.
The day started off with a bang, literally with the shot put hitting the floor, as Valencia sat in second place after two throws before launching a personal best and breaking The American Championship meet record, set by Houston's Cameron Cornelius last season, with a mark of 60-11.50 (18.58). The throw would hold throughout the final three rounds as Valencia won Houston's third straight American shot put title, following in the footsteps of Cornelius who won the event in 2014 and 2015.
Valencia was one of two Cougars to contribute team points in the event as junior Alex Garza added four points with a fifth-place finish, tossing the implement a distance of 54-7.25 (16.64).
The precocious freshman in the 60 hurdles, McWilliams, who is tied with Issac Williams for the Houston school record in the event, lowered the American Championship meet record he set Sunday in the event's prelims with a winning time of 7.74, narrowly edging Williams, the 2015 champion in the event, who finished with a time of 7.90. A second freshman, Amere Lattin, added points for Houston in the event with a time of 7.98 to finish fourth.
Just two races after McWilliams won his title, he returned to the straightaway with Burrell, LeShon Collins and freshman Mario Burke. The quartet was led by Burrell who won Houston's third straight American men's 60 title, with Collins claiming wins the past two years, with an American meet record time of 6.57.
Collins followed just behind Burrell with a time of 6.65, edging Tulsa's Bryce Robinson by six-thousandths of a second for second place. Burke rolled in fourth with a time of 6.74 with McWilliams crossing the line in a time of 6.80 to give Houston 27 huge points.
The sprinters would give Houston another major addition in the points just 50 minutes later as five finalists in the men's 200-meter dash totaled 20 points, led by Collins who clocked the fifth-fastest time in Houston history, 21.02, to finish second. Williams would take fourth in a time of 21.49 followed by Curtis Brown with a time of 21.56 in sixth. Jacarias Martin (21.63) and Gerald Mills (21.64) would round out the group, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.
The race leader for much of the men's mile final, Barraza would eventually finish second in the event, and give Houston eight team points, with a time of 4:10.26.
One day after setting the Houston and American Championship meet records in the 800-meter run, true freshman Brian Bell returned to the track for the finals of the event, recording a time of 1:49.45 to finish second and pick up another eight team points.
The men's heptathlon entered Monday with three final events and two of Houston's competitors recorded the top marks of the year with junior Chris Morales leading the way in the pole vault (15-3.00 | 4.65) and freshman Sebastian Russi in the 1,000-meter run (2:47.12).
The points would be vital as Russi jumped into fourth place in the final results with 4,706 points, after starting the day in sixth. Morales followed just behind in fifth with 4,663 points while junior Emiliano Troitino was sixth with 4,572 points giving Houston 12 valuable team points.
Houston picked up 5.5 points in the men's high jump as freshman Colin George cleared the bar at 6-8.00 (2.03) to finish in a tie for fourth while sophomore Trumaine Jefferson cleared 6-6.00 (1.98) to finish in a six-way tie for sixth place.
A pair of juniors combined for nine points in the women's team race in the women's 60 as Tori Williams took fourth with a time of 7.46 and was closely followed across the finish line by Bria Carter in fifth with a time of 7.50.
Williams would return to the track 40 minutes later for the finals of the 200-meter dash and responded with the fourth-fastest 200 in Houston program history, 23.59, to finish fourth in The American.
The men's 400-meter dash saw five more points added to the Houston team total as freshman Raymund Clarke ran a personal-best time of 48.56 to take sixth and pick up three points while his classmate, Drake Murphy, ran 48.73 to finish seventh and earn two team points.
Senior Kelli Hardnett closed out her indoor career with a sixth-place finish in the women's 400, clocking a time of 55.20 to give Houston three team points.
The women's team added three more points in the high jump as sophomore Diayja Sheppard cleared the bar at 5-5.00 (1.65).
The duo of Felicienne Axel and Tonyecia Burks combined for five points in the women's triple jump as Axel finished sixth with a jump of 39-9.75 (12.13) and Burks took seventh with a jump of 39-8.00 (12.09).
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The 2016 indoor track and field season concludes March 11-12 with the NCAA Indoor Championships at the same location of The American Championships, the Birmingham Crossplex. The field will consist of the top 16 individuals in each event and the top 12 relays in each relay.
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.
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Players Mentioned
