University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Head Northwest for Baylor Invitational
4/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Waco, Texas -- The Houston Cougar men's and women's track and field will remain in the Lone Star State for the fourth consecutive week of outdoor season, as they travel west to compete in the 2016 Baylor Invitational on Saturday, April 9, in Waco, Texas.
The invitational will see 13 teams join the host team Baylor for Saturday's competition, including the Cougars, North Texas, Fresno St., USF, Arkansas St., Cal State Northridge, Texas Southern, Tulane, UT-Arlington, Texas State, Prairie View A&M, Oral Roberts and Tulsa.
The single day event kicks off Saturday morning at 10 a.m., with the men's hammer throw and the women's javelin. Field events will continue throughout the day, concluding with the men's triple jump at 5 p.m.
The women's and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase opens the Baylor Invitational running events at 3 p.m. The women's and men's 4x100-meter relay will follow at 3:25 p.m., and lead the path through the 4x400-meter relay where the gun will sound at 6:55 p.m.
WHO TO WATCH
The Cougar sprinters continue to impress this season, and three of the nation's top 100-meter dashers will be in action this weekend. Sophomore Cameron Burrell enters action with the No. 12 time nationally (10.33), and will be competing alongside freshmen Mario Burke (No. 15, 10.34) and John Lewis III (No. 49, 10.49) on Saturday. The 100-meter dash runs at 5:05 p.m.
A pair of Cougars are ranked inside the top-50 for the 200-meter dash which will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday. On the men's side, freshman Jacarias Martin enters with the nation's 30th best time at 21.06, while senior Kelli Hardnett holds the women's 53rd best time in the nation at 23.71.
Senior Issac Williams is scheduled to compete in the men's 110-meter hurdles at 4:20 p.m., this weekend. Williams enters with the sixth fastest time in the nation this season at 13.67. In the 400-meter hurdles, freshman Raymund Clarke holds the 80th best time in the NCAA at 52.98 this season, and will compete at 5:45 p.m.
Cougar jumpers have put on a strong display this season and will look to continue that into Saturday's competition. In the long jump, Burrell returns to action with the NCAA's 22nd best mark of the season at 24'10.5" (7.58m), while Antwan Dickerson ranks 89th at 23'7.25" (7.19m). Sophomore Tonyecia Burks will compete in the triple jump this weekend, bringing a season best mark of 40'5.0" (13.32m, No. 55 nationally) to Waco.
Two of Houston's top throwers will be in action, one week removed from impressive performances at the Texas Relays. Sophomore Felipe Valencia will look to improve on the nation's 30th best shot put 59'3.5" (18.58m) and will be competing alongside junior Alex Garza who threw 57'5.5" (17.51m) at the UTSA Invitational to set the 53rd best mark in the nation.
The Cougar relay squads will look to improve on some of the fastest times the nation has seen so far this season. Three men's 4x100-meter squads rank inside the top-50 this season, all of which are scheduled to be in action, with the "A" squad featuring LeShon Collins, Burke, Martin and Burrell with a best time of 39.31. The women's top 4x100-meter squad comes in ranked 37th in the nation at 45.13 and will see Bria Carter, Tori Williams, Hardnett and Burks competing.
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
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Players Mentioned
