University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
J. Fred Duckett Twilight Invitational
Brian Bell Breaks 800-meter Record...Again
4/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Twilight Results | Mt. SAC Results | Houston Results
Walnut, Calif. -- For the second time during the outdoor season, freshman Brian Bell has broken the 800-meter record, while the Houston Cougar men's and women's track and field team set 26 personal bests at the Mt. SAC Relays and J. Fred Duckett Twilight Invitational on Saturday.
Bell shaved a few hundredths of a second off his previous best when he clocked a 1:47.58 to finish fourth and set the 800m record for the second time this outdoor season. Bell also owns the indoor 800m record after claiming that honor at The American Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala.
At Rice, it was senior Selena Sierra who set the tone for a successful distance performance for the Cougars this weekend. Running in the 3000-meter steeplechase, Sierra set a new personal best at 10:44.01 to claim victory in the event. The time for Sierra moves her to No. 2 on the all-time Houston list in the steeple and moves her to No. 86 on the national list.
Senior hurdler Issac Williams also ran one of the top times in school history when he placed third in the 110-meter hurdles. Williams ran a wind-legal 13.43 to set a new personal best and finish third in the elite division of the event.
The Cougars picked up another individual win on the day when freshman Taylor Scaife claimed the hammer throw title at Rice with a mark of 169'0" (51.51m). Scaife's throw is the third best in school history, and she is the second Cougars freshman to reach the top-5 in school history this season (Mikaila Martin, 52.31m).
Houston got two more wins from their distance runners while competing in Houston Saturday night. Brian Barraza claimed victory in the 1500-meter run with a 3:48.81, while Trevor Walker (4:05.82) and Matt Parmley (4:06.76) finished eighth and 10th respectively. On the women's side of the 1500, Jennifer Dunlap picked up a win with a personal best 4:31.90, while Jahnavi Schneider (4:39.75, third), Maddie Brown (4:45.51, fifth) and Mackenzie Illari (5:14.33, 21st) all racked up new personal bests.
Houston picked up five top-5 finishes in the vertical jumps at the meet in Texas. The women's pole vaulting duo of Haley Houston (12'6", 3.82m) and Sam Montgomery (12'0", 3.67m) finished third and fourth respectively, while in the women's high jump Diayja Sheppard finished fifth at 5'5.25" (1.66m). In the men's high jump, Colin George set a new personal best at 6'9.0" (2.06m), while Morris Olumba placed third at 6'3.25" (1.91m).
Sophomore thrower Felipe Valencia improved on his al-time best in the shot put when he picked up a throw of 59'4.25" (18.09m) to finish sixth at Mt. SAC, but third among collegiates. Valencia is currently 41st on the NCAA list.
In the men's throws at Rice, Josh Pegram picked up a big personal best in the javelin when he threw 184'1" (56.12m) to finish second while, freshman Kenneth Sessums took fourth in the discus at 150'-6" (45.88m), the best throw of his young career. Jose Herrera gave the Coogs one more top-5 finish in the Rice throws with a personal beset 163'7" (49.86m) hammer throw to finish fifth.
A pair of women's throwers picked up top-5 finishes in the women's shot put at the Twilight. A'Nease Linnear took home fourth when she threw 42'9" (13.03m), while freshman Maliya Evans set a new personal best of 42'6.0" (12.95m) to place fifth.
It was the distance however, that would continue to impress as the night went on, with the men setting five personal records in the 800m, 3000 steeple and 5000-meter runs. Cameron Laverty (1:51.84) and Gabe Lara (9:39.36) each picked up fourth place finishes in the 800m and 3000 steeple respectively, while James Broussard finished fifth in the 5000m at a personal best 15:02.80.
There was more of the same on the women's side when Britani Gonzales finished fourth in the 800m at 2:14.73, while Kyndall Tyler placed eighth at 2:17.96, a pair of PRs for the duo. Two more personal bests would fall in the women's 5K when Maria Gonzales finished in 18:30.04 to place fifth, and Kristen Powell took sixth in 18:38.57.
Perhaps the most impressive team performance however, came to open the day when the men competed in the 4x100-meter relay in California. While fielding two teams in the event, Houston saw each of its squads run sub-40 second times when the "A"-team finished fourth at 39.20 and the "B"-team took eighth at 39.93.
UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
Saturday, April 23 will be historic for the Cougars, when they return home to Houston to host their first outdoor track and field meet since May 2-3, 2008. Thanks to an extremely generous donation from Carolyn and Ron Yokubaitis, the Cougars were able to fully renovate Tom Tellez Track at Carl Lewis International Complex, and will host the Yokubaitis Invitational next Saturday.
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 ().
Players Mentioned
