University of Houston Athletics
Williams, Valencia Named Athletes of the Week
4/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Providence, R.I. â€" For the fourth consecutive week Houston Cougar track & field student athletes have been named American Athletic Conference Athletes of the Week as senior Issac Williams (track) and sophomore Felipe Valencia (field) have earned this week's honors the conference office announced Tuesday.
Competing at the historic Mt. SAC Relays, in Walnut, California, Williams and Valencia put on a clinic in their respective event's top divisions.
Williams, running in the elite division of the men's 110-meter hurdles ran a personal best 13.43 to finish third overall, but first among collegiate competitors. Williams' time currently sits No. 2 on the NCAA list this season, and is just five one-hundredths of a second off the school record of 13.38 set in 1995 by Ubeja Anderson.
Valencia made an improvement on his American Athletic Conference leading mark in the shot put, when he threw 59'4.25" (18.09m), while competing against the top athletes at the meet. Valencia finished sixth overall and third among collegiates, and his mark moved him to No. 42 on the 2016 NCAA outdoor list.
For Houston, Williams and Valencia's awards are the sixth and seventh of the outdoor season, after senior LeShon Collins claimed last week's award with a top-10 time in the 200-meter dash as well as helping the Cougars' 4x100-meter relay team to the No. 2 time in the nation. Junior Brian Barraza broke the 56-year old 10,000-meter record the week before to win the award after Collins and Selena Sierra swept the men's and women's award on March 29.
Valencia's American Conference Field Athlete of the Week Award is the first for Houston this season, while Williams has now claimed the award three times this season.
Freshman Mario Burke opened the outdoor season claiming the honor following the UTSA Invitational, and the Cougars have now won eight American Male Track Athlete of the Week honors after winning four during the indoor slate.
Williams claimed the final award of the indoor season on Feb. 23 as well as on Feb. 2, while junior sprinter Cameron Burrell earned the award on Jan. 19, after posting the top mark in the world at the time in the 60-meter dash.
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
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.
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Players Mentioned
