University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Ready for U.S. Olympic Trials
6/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Eugene, Ore. -- The final stop on the road to Rio is in Eugene, Ore., at the United States Olympic Trials, where three current Houston Track & Field student-athletes and lettermen and one alumnus vie for Team USA roster spots for the XXXI Olympic Games.
The top track & field athletes from around the nation have met their qualifying marks and will converge in Oregon with the goal of making the Olympic roster to compete in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August. From Houston, LeShon Collins, Issac Williams and Cameron Burrell from the current Cougar squad and alumni Chris Carter will compete over a 10-day period from July 1-10.
Action will begin for Houston athletes at 3:01 p.m., Saturday, July 2, with the first round of the 100-meter dash and will feature both Collins and Burrell. Following the first round, the semifinals will be held Sunday at 6:19 p.m., with the final round at 7:53 p.m. Collins set his qualifying mark at The American Outdoor Championships where he won gold in 10.15, while Burrell met the standard of 10.16 at the Tom Tellez Invitational.
Collins enters the event ranked No. 26 in the U.S. and No. 86 in the world, while Burrell sits at No. 29 nationally and No. 95 in the world.
After a 2-day break, action will resume with Collins in the first round of the 200-meter dash at 7:30 p.m., July 7. The semifinals will be held the following day at 7:37 p.m., while the finals are held on Saturday at 7:42 p.m. The Newark, Del., native ran 20.47 to win The American championship and set his qualifying mark. Collins ranks 27th in the United States in the 200 while sitting 69th in the world rankings.
Carter will also be in competition on July 7 with the opening round of the men's triple jump at 6:45 p.m. The finals of the event will be held two days later at 6:15 p.m., July 9. Carter reached the qualifying standard of 54-8 (16.66m) at the AA Drink FBK-Games in Hengelo, Netherlands, where he jumped 56-2 (17.12m) to win the event. Carter enters the trials ranked No. 5 in the United States and No. 9 in the world in the triple jump.
Williams will be the last Cougar to step on the track, running in the first round of the 110-meter hurdles at 5:02p.m., Friday, July 8. The semifinals and finals will be held the next day at 6:25 and 7:52 p.m., respectively. Williams bettered the qualifying mark of 13.57 when he ran 13.43 at the Mt. SAC Relays this season, ranking him No. 10 in the United States and 33rd in the world.
The top-3 athletes finishing in the finals of each event who also meet the Olympic standards will qualify for the XXXI Olympic Games and book their trip to Rio de Janeiro from August 5-21. All four Cougar athletes have met the qualifying marks for their events entering competition. Track and Field, known as athletics in the Olympic world, has been a part of the Games since 1896 and offers 141 total medals, more than any other sport at the Olympics.
FOLLOW ALONG LIVE
Live results for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials will be provided live via Flash Results. Results can be found by visiting FlashResults.com and following the appropriate links, or by clicking HERE.
Live video of the U.S. Trials will be provided via USATF.TV and NBCSports.com. For the USATF broadcast fans can click HERE, while the NBC Sports Broadcast can be found at this LINK.
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
