University of Houston Athletics
Houston to Host Yokubaitis Invitational
4/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON -- Thanks to a generous donation from Carolyn and Ron Yokubaitis, the Houston Cougar Track and Field team will host its first outdoor track meet since 2008 on the fully renovated Tom Tellez Track at Carl Lewis International Complex.
On April 2, 2015, the Cougar Track and Field program announced that Tom Tellez Track at Carl Lewis International Complex would undergo a complete renovation after a $1.5 million donation from Carolyn and Ron Yokubaitis. The renovations included a complete resurfacing of Tom Tellez track, new long jump/triple jump and pole vault run ways, new throws rings and an expanded grass infield to host discus and javelin events.
Prior to the running events at Saturday's meet, the Cougars will honor the Yokubaitis family with a special presentation called the Long Red Line. Track and field alumni, along with current Cougar Track and Field student-athletes and coaches, will pass a baton toward the finish line, where Head Coach Leroy Burrell will pass the baton across the line to the Yokubaitis family to officially dedicate the facility. The presentation will begin at 12:45 p.m.
"I am so proud of Leroy (Burrell) and his program and what they have done with indoor and outdoor championships every year. I was surprised with how much they were doing with so little," said Yokubaitis when the renovations were announced. "Playing football and getting a degree at the University of Houston changed my life and gave me a direction that I really didn't have. I am thankful for that opportunity, and we want to continue to provide opportunities to others."
The Yokubaitis Invitational will be the first of two meets for the Cougars on their new home track during the outdoor season, as Houston returns home on Friday, May 6 to host the Tom Tellez Invitational. Saturday's meet features teams from Grambling State, Houston Baptist, Lamar, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston State, Southern and Texas Southern.
Field events kick off the morning action as the women's hammer throw and the men's javelin begin at 9 a.m. Running events are set to begin following the presentation at 1:45 p.m., with the women's and men's 4x100-meter relay. Action will conclude Saturday evening with the women's and men's 4x400-meter relay scheduled to begin at 6:10 p.m.
WHO TO WATCH
The Cougars will be out in full force on Saturday to impress the home fans beginning with the men's 4x100-meter relay team that enters competition fourth in the nation. The squad of LeShon Collins, Mario Burke, Jacarias Martin and Cameron Burrell ran 39.14 at the Baylor Invitational earlier this month. The women's team of Bria Carter, Kelli Hardnett, Mayorca Young and Tori Williams enters competition ranked No. 52 nationally after posting a season best time of 45.21.
The men's hurdle crew will once again look to put on a show as they enter competition with three student-athletes ranked in the top-25 nationally in the 110-meter hurdles. Senior Issac Williams has the team's best time this season after running 13.43 at the Mt. SAC Relays last week to rank No. 2 nationally. A pair of freshmen round out the Cougars ranked hurdlers with Marcus McWilliams entering Saturday No. 15 in the nation (13.75) and Amere Lattin sitting at No. 24 (14.11).
Three nationally ranked Cougars enter competition on the straight track Saturday in the 100-meter dash. Cameron Burrell ran 10.33 at the Texas Relays to rank No. 21 in the NCAA, while freshman John Lewis III is 76th nationally after a 10.49 in Austin. On the women's side, junior Bria Carter entered the national ranking last weekend as her time of 11.58(w) at the Mt. SAC Relays moved her to No. 72 in the NCAA.
Freshman Gerald Mills will be in action in the 200-meters where he looks to better his top mark of 21.08 set at the Victor Lopez Classic, which ranks him 75th in the NCAA, while in the quarter mile, Kelli Hardnett enters competition with the No. 59 400-meter dash time in the nation at 54.67.
A trio of ranked throwers will compete in the Cougar red Saturday, including the duo of Felipe Valencia and Alejandro Garza in the men's shot put. Valencia threw a season-best 59-4.25 (18.09m, No. 42 nationally) at the Mt. SAC Relays last week en route to earning American Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Week Honors, while Garza's best sits at 58-5.25 (17.81m) ranking him No. 52 in the nation. For the women, freshman distance thrower Nora Monie looks to continue a strong rookie campaign after entering the national rankings in the discus at No. 95 with a throw of 159-5 (48.60m) at the Baylor Invitational.
TICKET INFORMATION
As a special treat to fans of the Houston Track & Field program, the Cougars will offer free admission to any person wishing to attend the Yokubaitis Invitational on Saturday.
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
Live results for Saturday's meet will be made available courtesy of Flash Results Texas. Results can be found by visiting FlashResultsTexas.com and following the appropriate links, or by clicking HERE.
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
