University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Texas Relays
Cougars Wrap Final Day of Texas Relays
4/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON -- The Houston Cougar men's and women's track and field teams wrapped a busy weekend with the fourth and final day of the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas on Saturday.
Houston opened the day with competition in its first 4x800-meter relay competition of the season. The Cougar squad clocked a 7:54.47 to finish 15th in the men's race and officially kick off the final day of the relays for Houston.
Another relay would follow shortly after with the finals of the 4x100-meter relay. Already ranked in the top-5 in the nation in the event, the Cougars would improve upon their time when they put together a run of 39.31 to finish the event third, and move into No. 4 nationally this season.
The women would get into the relay action just moments later with their first 4x200-meter relay of the season. The team of Bria Carter, Kelli Hardnett, Mayorca Young and Tori Williams finished in 1:37.02 to place seventh in the event.
On the straight track, the Cougars got big performances from three hurdlers, and a pair of 100-meter dash competitors. After Issac Williams, Marcus McWilliams and Amere Lattin all qualified to make up three members out of the 9-person final, the trio did not disappoint at Williams took second in 13.67 the nation's second fastest time, while McWilliams finished right on his heels in third at 13.78, and Lattin came in fifth at 13.88.
After the hurdles came off, it was time for the finals of the 100-meter dash as well as the invitational portion of the 100 meters. In the collegiate finals, LeShon Collins jumped out to an incredible start, which led to a third place finish in a wind-aided 10.21. Moments later in the invitational event, Cameron Burrell just missed a personal best with a 10.33 to finish fourth.
Houston also had two throwers in the "A-Section" of the men's shot put where Felipe Valencia would go on to qualify for the finals. On his first throw of the afternoon, Valencia launched the shot 59'3.5" (18.07m) to set a new personal best, and eventually finish seventh. Alex Garza finished the event 11th with a best of 55'4.75" (16.88).
The Cougars concluded the running events at the Texas Relays in the finals of the women's 4x400-meter relay. The team consisting of Hardnett, Young, Mandy Nolan and Ebony White clocked a 3:39.84 to finish third. The mark for the Cougars moves them to No. 12 nationally.
Houston freshman Cameron Laverty was the only Cougar to compete outside of the Texas Relays on Saturday, running the 800-meters at the Stanford Invitational. Laverty finished in a personal best 1:52.32 to finish 30th overall.
UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
Houston heads to the Baylor Invitational on Saturday, April 9 in Waco, Texas. The single 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.
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Players Mentioned
