University of Houston Athletics
Cougars to Compete at Charlie Thomas Invitational
2/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON â€" The Houston Cougar men's and women's track and field teams will hit the road for College Station, Texas for the second time during the indoor season when they compete in the Charlie Thomas Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M on Friday, Feb. 5 and Saturday, Feb 6.
Including the Cougars and the host school Texas A&M, 13 teams will be in competition in College Station this weekend. Other teams attending are ACU, Arkansas (Women Only), Baylor, Clemson, Missouri, Rice, South Plains, TCU, UT-Arlington, UTEP and UTSA.
Friday's action is scheduled to include just the men's and women's distance medley relays and 5,000-meter runs, as well as the women's pentathlon and the first four events of the men's heptathlon. The heptathlon kicks things off at 2:30 p.m., while the DMR will run at 6:30 followed by the 5K at 7:00 p.m.
Day two of the meet figures to be an action-packed day, with the heptathlon resuming for its final three at 10:30 a.m., leading up to the remainder of the meet kicking off at 12:30 p.m. with the men's long jump and the women's 60-meter dash.
The Cougars return to action one week after hosting the 2016 Houston Invitational at the Yeoman Fieldhouse where Houston had a big weekend in front of its home fans. Competing in her first full pentathlon, sophomore Bailee Logsdon ran away with the competition finishing in first with 3,486 points and setting personal-records in all five events.
Junior Cameron Burrell also had a big day last Friday. While taking the weekend off from the 60, Burrell focused solely on the long jump, and needed just one jump to claim gold in the event. Burrell posted 24'9.75" (7.56m) on his first jump of the season to win the event.
The following day was more of the same for the Cougars, this time sweeping the 60-meter dash competition. Freshman Mario Burke claimed first in the men's side with a personal-best time of 6.72 which is fourth among American Athletic Conference sprinters.
On the women's side Tori Williams just missed setting a new personal record after winning in 7.47 to rank third this season in the American Conference.
Houston also had a solid weekend in the hurdles, as senior Issac Williams clocked a 7.82 in the 60-meter hurdles to post the fastest time in the American Athletic Conference this season. Williams was named The American Male Track Athlete of the Week for his performance in the event.
NOTABLE COUGARS
Houston will have three of the top 60-meter dash athletes in the nation competing at the Charlie Thomas Invitational. No. 2 Cameron Burrell, No. 9 LeShon Collins and No. 32 Mario Burke will all run the 60, while Collins will also compete in the 200-meter dash.
Issac Williams will be in action in the 60 hurdles again this week. Williams sits at No. 15 in the nation in the event and is looking to build on a week that saw him earn American Athletic Conference Male Track Athlete of the Week honors. Freshman Marcus McWilliams will also be in competition at No. 28 in the nation.
Junior sprinter Tori Williams will be in competition in the 200-meter dash. Williams sits as the No. 35 women's student-athlete in the nation in the event.
A duo of some of the top field athletes in the nation will also be in action in College Station this weekend. In the shot put, No. 38 Felipe Valencia will compete as well as the No. 30 high jumper Diayja Sheppard.
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
The Cougars head west to compete in the Don Kirby Elite Invitational hosted by the University of New Mexico. The two-day meet is scheduled to be held on Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13 in Albuquerque, N.M.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS
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Players Mentioned
