University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
The American Indoor Championships
Three-Peat! UH Men First, Women Third
2/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON â€" The Houston Men's Track & Field program claimed its third consecutive American Conference Indoor Championship Saturday while the Houston women recorded its first podium finish since 2014 by finishing third overall.
The Houston men totaled an American Conference record 174 points and were led by six individual titles on Saturday from Cameron Cornelius (shot put), Amere Lattin (60-meter hurdles), Mario Burke (60-meter dash), Chris Ibarra (800-meter run), Nathaniel Mechler (heptathlon) and Cameron Burrell (200-meter dash) to go along with Friday's long jump title by Trumaine Jefferson.
Tori Williams (200-meter dash) and Tonye'cia Burks (triple jump) claimed individual titles to lead the Houston women who finished with 99 points, its highest point total since totaling 108 points at the 2009 Conference USA Championships. For the women's program it was a 64-point and six place improvement from 2016 when it finished ninth with 35 points.
Saturday's title was the 18th indoor championship in men's program history as the Cougars have won 14 indoor conference championships in Head Coach Leroy Burrell's 19-year tenure.
The men's 174 points bested the previous American Conference record of 158 points from UConn in 2014 and were the most by a Houston team at a conference meet since winning the 2010 Conference USA Indoor title with 183.5 points.
After missing the 2016 season with an injury, Cornelius returned to the ring Saturday and claimed his third American Indoor shot put title with a throw of 60-5.75 (18.43). Also the 2014 and 2015 winner, Cornelius gave Houston its fourth straight title in the event as Felipe Valencia claimed the crown last season. The junior led from the start with his winning throw coming on his first attempt.
Lattin gave Houston its second title of the day when he blazed down the straightaway in a time of 8.09 and gave the Cougars 10 additional team points with a title in the 60-meter hurdles.
In a field dominated by Houston, owning six of the eight finalist spots, Burke narrowly pulled away from his teammate and defending 60-meter dash champion Cameron Burrell with a personal-best time of 6.581 to Burrell's 6.590. Burke's time is the second-fastest in Houston program history behind just the 6.48 of Burrell from 2016.
Friday's champion in the long jump, and also competing in the high jump Saturday, Jefferson finished fourth in the event, tying a personal best in 6.82, while John Lewis III came in fifth at 6.84. Jacarias Martin (6.90) and Cameron Prejean finished seventh and eighth to round out the field.
On the women's side, Sierra Smith clocked a personal-best time of 7.44 to grab a silver medal while Williams took fourth with a time of 7.47.
Just over an hour later the two returned to the track for the finals of the 200-meter dash where Williams grabbed her title with an American Conference meet record time of 23.34, the third-fastest time in Houston history. It was a one-two finish for Houston as Smith took her second silver of the day with a PR of 23.79. Birexus Hawkins added a team point, finishing eighth with a time of 24.69.
Following a one-two finish on the women's side, the Houston men's team took up a notch with its second podium sweep of the weekend as Burrell clocked a personal best and the third-fastest time in Houston history, 20.84, to grab the gold. Burke switched spots with Burrell on the podium from the 60, taking the silver with a PR of 21.14. Lattin added yet another medal, as he took third in the event with a PR of 21.16. Jacarias Martin also added two points by finishing seventh with a time of 21.65.
Junior Chris Ibarra gave Houston its fifth title of the day Saturday when he stepped onto the track for the 800-meter run and promptly ripped off a personal-best time of 1:51.80 and extend Houston's team lead to 51 points.
After totaling 3,098 points in the first day of the heptathlon, Mechler returned for three more events Saturday and claimed the title with 5,636 points. The freshman opened the day with his fourth PR in five events with a time of 8.47 in the 60-meter hurdles before adding his fifth PR in the pole vault by clearing 15-3.00 (4.65). Mechler closed out his day with a win in the 1,000-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:40.55, an American meet record for the event.
Mechler was one of three scorers for Houston in the pentathlon was Christopher Morales finished fifth with 4,976 points and Emiliano Troitino took sixth with 4,954 points.
Burks bested her previous personal best by over a full foot as she claimed the American title with a school record 42-7.50 (12.99) after taking the lead on her third attempt and never looking back. The winning jump broke an 11-year program record by over five inches, besting the 42-2.25 (12.86) set by Caresir Hamilton in 2006.
Burks was one of two jumpers to score in the event as Paige Lawrence finished fifth with a PR of 39-11.50 (12.18) and Jazmyn Tilford-Rutherford finished seventh with a PR of 38-5.50 (11.72).
The 2016 champion in the event, Brian Barraza gave Houston an additional eight late points when he finished second in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:11.13.
The Houston women's 4x400-meter relay closed out the podium finish by claiming a spot on the podium itself with a time of 3:40.56 to finish second overall. The men's 4x400-meter relay closed out the day with a third-place finish in a time of 3:14.36.
Both Hawkins and Mandy Nolan clocked personal bests in the 400-meter dash as Hawkins finished third with a time of 54.04 and Nolan took sixth at 55.42. Hawkins' time ranks third all-time in Houston history. The men's 400 also saw a PR as Raymund Clarke clocked a time of 47.74 to finish fourth and pick up five points.
Jefferson returned Saturday to compete in the high jump and cleared a personal-best height of 6-8.75 (2.01) to finish fourth. Jefferson's teammates Colin George and Antwan Dickerson gave Houston a combined five points, both clearing 6-7.00 (2.01) with George in sixth on fewer jumps and Dickerson in seventh.
On the women's side of the high jump, sophomore Leah Moorer gave Houston four points as she finished in a tie for fourth by clearing a height of 5-3.25 (1.61).
In the men's triple jump, sophomore Cameron Prejean leapt a personal-best distance of 49-8.25 (15.14) to take fourth and pick up five points.
Junior Jennifer Dunlap finished seventh in the mile to pick up two points for the Cougars with a PR of 4:54.20, the fourth-fastest time in program history.
Houston returns to action on March 10-11 when those Houston athletes who qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships take to the track in College Station, Texas.
