University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Penn Relays
LeShon Collins Wins 100m Dash at Penn
4/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
PHILADELPHIA â€" After 23 years without a Penn Relays' individual champion, the Houston track and field squad picked up their second of the weekend as senior LeShon Collins won the men's 100-meter dash championship, on Saturday, in Philadelphia, Pa.
A Newark, Del., native, Collins had a nice homecoming as he crossed the line first in 10.48 to claim the victory. Collins also qualified with the top time overall on Friday in the event with a preliminary time of 10.50.
Prior to the Collins' win and Brian Barraza's school-record victory in the 5,000-meter run on Thursday night, Houston's last individual champion at the relays was Sam Jefferson in the 100m in 1993. Freshman Mario Burke also podiumed in the 100 with a third place finish in 10.52.
Collins and Burke were also in action in the men's 4x100-meter relay earlier in the day. Alongside teammates, Gerald Mills and Cameron Burrell, the Cougars ran 39.49 to finish second in the championship event. Houston was the top American collegiate team in competition, falling only to G.C. Foster from Jamaica.
The Cougars tantalizing hurdles trio of senior Issac Williams and freshmen Marcus McWilliams and Amere Lattin all qualified for the finals of Saturday's 110-meter hurdles which saw perhaps the closest race of the weekend. Williams just missed another Cougar championship when he placed second in 13.89, finishing five thousandths of a second behind the first place finisher. McWilliams finished right on William's heels at 13.90 for third place, meaning the top-3 finishers were all within one hundredth of a second. Lattin took fifth in 14.12.
The Houston women's 4x200-meter relay squad as well as the 4x400-meter relay team were also in action after qualifying for the finals on Friday night. The 4x2 team of Tori Williams, Mayorca Young, Mandy Nolan and Kelli Hardnett placed seventh in 1:37.27, while the 4x4 women consisting of Hardnett, Young, Nolan and Ebony White finished fifth in 3:42.70.
The men's 4x800m relay was also on the track in the Championship Division where Brian Bell, Cameron Laverty, Chris Ibarra and Drake Murphy finished seventh overall in 7:26.73.
UP NEXT FOR HOUSTON
The Cougars return home for the Tom Tellez Invitational on Friday, May 6. The invitational will be their second home outdoor meet of the season at the newly renovated Tom Tellez Track at Carl Lewis Complex. The meet will be held under the lights, with the running events beginning at 5:45 p.m., while the field events are set to start at 1 p.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
