University of Houston Athletics
Mt. SAC Relays are Houston's Next Test
4/13/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Walnut, Calif. â€" The Houston Cougar men's and women's track and field teams will once again split up this weekend, with some athletes heading out west for the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., while other athletes will stay in Houston, to compete at the Rice J. Fred Duckett Twilight Invitational.
The Cougars will have a pair in action for the throws on Thursday, April 14, when Damon Thompson competed in the men's hammer throw at 12:30 p.m., to be followed by Mikaila Martin in the women's hammer at 6 p.m.
The majority of the Mt. SAC Relays will be held Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, with action on day two scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. The first Cougars will be in action at 1:30 p.m., with the beginning of the women's weight throw, while running events will kick off at 1:40 p.m., with the men's 110-meter hurdles.
Saturday's relays will consist of the finals of Friday's competition, as well as the "elite" category competitions. Both men's and women's 4x100-meter relay squads will run in the elite division of the event on Saturday at 3:10 and 3:15 p.m., respectively to open the day for the Cougars. The lone field competitor on Saturday will be Felipe Valencia in the men's shot put at 5 p.m.
Saturday will also feature the single-day, J. Fred Duckett Twilight Invitational, hosted by Rice University. Action at Rice is scheduled to being with the men's and women's discus at 10 a.m., with the afternoon running session set to start at 3 p.m., with the 100-meter hurdles, and the afternoon session to start with the 4x100-meter relay at 6 p.m.
WHO TO WATCH
A bevy of Cougars sprinters will be on display when the team travels out west this weekend, beginning with four Cougars who are ranked within the top-70 in the nation in the 100-meter dash. Senior LeShon Collins (No. 6 NCAA), sophomore Cameron Burrell (No. 18 NCAA), and freshmen Mario Burke (No. 20 NCAA) and John Lewis III (No. 61 NCAA), will all be in action on Friday for the 100m open. Collins will also compete in the 200-meter dash later that day holding currently the 13th fastest time in the NCAA, while freshman Jacarias Martin enters competition 37th on the national list.
On the women's side of the 200m, sophomore Kelli Hardnett will be in action. Hardnett sports the nation's 69th fastest 200m time this season at 23.71 which she ran at the UTSA Invitational.
In the middle distance, freshman Brian Bell will be back in action for the first time since setting the outdoor 800-meter run record at the Texas Relays. Bell, who also owns the indoor 800m record currently holds the 11th fastest half mile time in the nation at 1:47.94.
Houston will once again field a talented trio of hurdlers for the 110-meter hurdle competition at Mt. SAC. Running in the invitation only portion of the event, senior Issac Williams will compete with the seventh fastest time in the NCAA, while talented freshmen Marcus McWilliams (No. 13 NCAA) and Amere Lattin (No. 24 NCAA) will run in the open event.
The field events will feature a number of ranked Cougars, highlighted by Burrell in the long jump, who enters competition with the 26th best mark in the nation at 24'10.5" (7.58m). In the women's jumps, sophomore Tonyecia Burks enters the triple jump with a mark of 40'5.0" (12.32m) which stands 67th nationally.
In the throws, Felipe Valencia will look to improve on the nation's 39th best mark in the shot put when he competes on Saturday. The sophomore set his top mark of the season of 59'3.5" (18.07m) at the Texas Relays, while freshman Nora Monie entered the top-100 rankings for the first time this season last weekend at the Baylor Invitational when she threw the discus 159'5" (48.60m, No. 84 NCAA). Monie will be in competition on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Perhaps the most exciting show of the weekend however, will come when the men's 4x100-meter relay teams step on the track. This season, the Cougars have four different 4x1 teams ranked within the top-25, and eight within the top-70. The Cougars will send three 4x1 teams into competition this weekend. The women will send their No. 44 ranked 4x1 team into action as well on Saturday, along with the 65th best 4x400-meter relay team in the country. The men's 4x4 team will also compete, entering the meet with the no. 57 ranked team in the NCAA.
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
