University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Texas Relays
Brian Bell Breaks Outdoor 800m Record
3/31/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON â€" Freshman middle distance runner Brian Bell is now the owner of two school records, after breaking the outdoor 800-meter record on the opening day of the Texas Relays hosted by the University of Texas, in Austin.
Competing in the invitational portion of the Texas Relays, clocked a 1:47.94 to finish second in the race, and break the previous record of 1:48.40 set by Yonas Tesfai in 2014. For Bell, the record is his second school mark in his brief career after breaking the indoor 800-meter record at The American Indoor Championships earlier this year. Bell's time moves him to fifth on the national list for all 800m runners this season.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Cougars picked up a pair of personal records from two freshmen in their only other competition of the day, the 400-meter hurdles. Raymund Clarke ran 52.98 to finish 26th, while Alex Smith finished 57th in 54.67. Clarke's time ranks him second in the American Athletic Conference in 400 hurdles, while Smith now sits sixth.
Freshman Nora Monie was also in action on Thursday, throwing the discus at the Bobcat Invitational hosted by Texas State in San Marcos. Monie finished 11th in the discus at 143'-09" (43.65m). On the men's side of the discus, sophomore Guillermo Galvan set a personal best with a throw of 149'-02" (45.46m) to finish 17th, while Kenneth Sessums finished 19th at 147'-08" (45.02m).
WHO TO WATCH FOR
A trio of the nation's top 100-meter dashers in the nation will be in action at the Texas Relays. On the men's side No. 10 LeShon Collins (10.36) and No. 84 John Lewis (10.61) will each be in action, while No. 81 Bria Carter (11.82) with compete for the women.
Three more ranked Cougars are scheduled to run the 110-meter hurdles for Houston as No. 4 Issac Williams (13.70), No. 30 Amere Lattin (14.12) and No. 33 Marcus McWilliams (14.14) will run the event in Austin. Lattin is also scheduled to make an appearance in the 400-meter hurdles.
The field events will feature a bevy of ranked talent for Houston, led by No. 10 Cameron Burrell in the long jump who leaped 7.58m at the Victor Lopez last week. Burrell will be joined in the jumps by that nation's No. 30 triple jumper on the men's side John Horton (15.15m), as well as No. 33 Tonyecia Burks in the women's triple (12.32m) and No. 87 high jumper Diayja Sheppard (1.67m).
Houston will also field two student-athletes in the shot put at the Texas Relays who are ranked in the top-45 in the nation. Sophomore Felipe Valencia enters the competitions with the 35th best throw in the nation at 17.83m, while Alex Garza holds the 44th best throw at 17.51m.
The men's and women's nationally ranked 4x100-meter relay teams will also be in action on the weekend. The men enter competition ranked fifth in the nation with a best of 39.66, while the women will compete with the 25th best mark at 45.13.
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
Live results will be made available for each meet as well as a live video feed for the Texas Relays, with times still to be determined.
Live results for the Texas Relays can be found by clicking HERE, while the live video will be streamed courtesy of ESPN3 and can be found HERE. Action will also be carried live on The Longhorn Network with times to be determined at a later date.
Live results for the Bobcat Invitational can be found at the Texas State Track and Field website or by clicking HERE.
UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
Houston heads to the Baylor Invitational on Saturday, April 9 in Waco, Texas. The 1-day event is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
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
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Players Mentioned
