University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Indoor Championships
Cameron Burrell Sets 60m NCAA Championship Record
3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Birmingham, Ala. â€" Houston Cougar junior sprinter Cameron Burrell ran the second fastest 60-meter dash time in the world this year en route to setting a new NCAA Indoor Championship and program record while qualifying for tomorrow's finals at the NCAA Indoor Championships Friday.
He was one of two Cougars to punch their tickets to Saturday's finals as true freshman Marcus McWilliams also advanced from the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles.
Burrell ran the NCAA's fastest time this season at 6.50 to qualify with the top overall time in the semifinals of the 60 dash at the Birmingham CrossPlex Friday. The Houston native's mark sits just one-one hundredth of a second slower than Jamaican Olympian Asafa Powell. Not only did Burrell break his own school record, but he bested LSU alum Richard Thompson's NCAA Indoor Championship record of 6.51 set in 2008.
Earlier in the evening, McWilliams became the first Cougar to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championship finals when he qualified on time in the 60-meter hurdles. McWilliams crossed the line in 7.74 to run the fifth-fastest time overall. The school record holder in the event, McWilliams is the only freshman to qualify for Saturday's finals in the 60 hurdles.
Senior sprinter LeShon Collins joined Burrell in the 60 dash on Friday, where he clocked a 6.65 to finish 11th overall. The 2014 American Athletic Conference Champion in the event ran the sixth fastest time in heat one to close out his collegiate indoor career.
The final day of the NCAA Indoor Championships kicks off at 2 p.m., Saturday, while the finals of the running events will start at 4 p.m. McWilliams will run in the 60 hurdles finals at 4:25 p.m., while Burrell will compete in the 60 dash at 5:10 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
Final day coverage of the NCAA Indoor Championships will air live via ESPN3 beginning at 3:55 p.m., and can be found by clicking here.
Live stats will also be made available courtesy of the NCAA. The results of each individual event can be found by clicking here.
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.
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 and Field team has established its own official Facebook (facebook.com/HoustonCougarTrackandField) and Twitter pages ().
