University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Indoor Championships
Cameron Burrell Wins Silver at NCAA Championships
3/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
COLLEGE STATION, Texas â€" Senior sprinter Cameron Burrell claimed his second consecutive silver medal in the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday as the Cougar men finished the national event tied for 16th.
Burrell qualified for the 60 final with the No. 2 overall time on Friday at 6.53, just one-year after finishing as the runner-up at the 2016 indoor championships. Matched up against Tennessee sprinter Christian Coleman, the two started fast, but it was Coleman who posted a new NCAA record at 6.45 to edge Burrell at 6.54.
With his second-place finish, Burrell earned NCAA Indoor First Team All-American honors for the second straight season and the third time in his career. Overall, Burrell has now earned five All-American honors, in indoor and outdoor combined.
Sophomore sprinter Mario Burke was also in action in the 60, qualifying for the event with the sixth fastest overall time at 6.59. Competing in his first NCAA Indoor Championships, Burke crossed the line in 6.66 to finish seventh overall. With the podium, Burke earned First Team All-American honors for the first time in his indoor career and second overall.
Senior Brian Barraza was the final Cougar student-athlete to compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships, appearing in the 3,000-meter run while making his first appearance at the postseason event. Barraza began quickly, in what would turn into a tactical race, and ran among the leaders throughout the 15-lap affair.
In the final lap, Barraza surged past a pair of competitors en route to finishing seventh in 8:00.69. The result for Barraza earned him First Team All-American honors, marking the first time that a Cougar has achieved the accolade in a running event over 400-meters in school history.
On Friday, sophomore Amere Lattin finished 10th in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.85 marking the third-straight year the Cougars have taken an All-American honor in the event. The award also gives Houston four individual All-Americans, the most since the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships (Darius Pemberton (2x), Nathan Labus, John Davis, Sheddric Fields).
TEAM FINISH
With just four competitors, the Houston men finished in a tie for 16th after scoring 12 points. The position matches the Cougars' finish from the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships and is the first time Houston has finished inside the Top-20 in consecutive years since 1989 and 1990.
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