University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
USATF Junior Championships
Brian Bell Punches Ticket to World Juniors
6/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Clovis, Calif. -- Middle-distance runner Brian Bell became the second Houston Cougar Track & Field student-athlete to punch his ticket to the IAAF World Junior Championships, after a second place finish on the second day of the 2016 USATF Junior Championships, on Saturday.
After qualifying with the second fastest time in the preliminary round of the 800-meters on Friday, Bell was back in action Saturday night with a shot at worlds in Bydgoszcz, Poland on the line. The Dayton, Ohio native didn't disappoint, shaving two seconds off his preliminary time and finishing second while breaking his own school record in 1:47.18.
Bell joined Amere Lattin as the second Cougar to advance to the World Junior Championships, after Lattin qualified in the 110-meter hurdles on Friday. The hurdler was back on the track for the preliminary round of the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday, where he ran 52.46 to qualify third overall for the final in the event. Lattin will be in action at 8:35 p.m., Sunday, with the opportunity to qualify for worlds in both hurdle events.
Mikaila Martin was the final Cougar to compete at the USATF Juniors, when she made the finals of the hammer throw. The Houston, Texas native broke her own school record en route to a sixth place finish with her top mark of 189-07 (57.78m), which she picked up on her fourth throw.
Elsewhere for the Cougars, sprinter Mario Burke was in action in the semifinals and finals of the 100-meter dash at the Barbadian National Championships in Waterford, St. Michael, Barbados. Burke qualified for the finals with a 10.30, before running 10.25 to conclude the event and finish third.
CATCH IT LIVE
Live video coverage of the USATF Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be provided courtesy of USATF.TV. To access the video feed, fans can visit USATF.tv and follow the appropriate links, or they can reach the direct link by clicking HERE. A paid subscription is required to view the content.
Live stats will also be available courtesy of RecordTiming.com. Up to the minute results can be found 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
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