University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
Victor Lopez Classic
Houston Posts World-Leading Relay Times
3/24/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON -- The Houston Cougar Men's and Women's Track & Field squads capped an incredible weekend of action at the Prairie View A&M Relays and Victor Lopez Classic, where they came away with five nation-leading times and two world-leading marks at Rice and Prairie View.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Houston's men turned in the top performance in the world this season in the 4x100-meter relay. Competing at the Prairie View A&M Relays amongst three Team USA squads, the Cougars relayed one-lap around the track in 38.95 to breeze to a victory.
The squad of Mario Burke, Elijah Hall, John Lewis III and Cameron Burrell edged out Team USA Red (39.74; Blake Smith, Mike Rogers, Bryce Robinson, Dedrick Dukes), Team USA White (39.91; Charles Silmon, Marquez Washington, Michael Berry , Wallace Spearmon) and Team USA Blue (40.08; LeShon Collins, Brandon Carnes, Jeff Demps, John Teeters) in the victory.
Lewis III would be back on the track later in the afternoon to compete individually in the 100-meter dash. Running in heat one, the Willis, Texas, native clocked a wind-aided 10.13 to win the event and claim the No. 1 time in the NCAA this season.
Houston returned to the track just an hour later to clock another world-best mark, this time taking the victory in the 4x200-meter relay. Burke, Burrell and Hall were joined by All-American Kahmari Montgomery to run 1:21.19 and defeat Washington, Rogers, Robinson and Dukes of Team USA Red (1:22.16) and Demps, Spearmon, Silmon and Smith of Team USA Blue (1:23.46).
Junior Felipe Valencia picked up Houston's first victory of the day at the Victor Lopez Classic with a win in the men's shot put. Valencia opened the morning with a best throw of 58-11.25 (17.96m) to take the top spot on the podium and move to No. 13 in that nation this season.
Sophomore Samiyah Samuels tallied the women's first victory of the day with a win in the long jump. Samuels used her third attempt to travel a personal-best 20-7.25 (6.29m) to claim the event and move to third in the NCAA in the early season.
In the men's edition of the event, Antwan Dickerson also moved inside the top-5 with the fifth best mark in the nation this season. Dickerson leapt a personal-best 24-9.25 (7.55m) to finish fifth overall and second among collegiates in the competition.
Houston picked up a victory in the vertical leaps as well, when Colin George posted the nation's 12th best mark in the high jump. George went up-and-over the bar at 6-10.75 (2.10m) to take the victory and mark a new personal best.
Nora Monie had a career-day in the discus competition, where she set a personal best with a mark of 169-0.5 (51.51m). Monie's mark placed her second in the event and is the second-best throw in program history, while also moving her to No. 22 on the NCAA list this season.
Monie continued a strong meet with another second-place finish, this time in the women's shot put. Monie improved on her second-best mark in program history, when she threw 51-5.75 (15.69m) on her second attempt to move to No. 10 in the NCAA. Freshman Priscilla Adejokun moved to No. 3 in school history with a personal-best mark of 50-4.0 (15.34m), which ranks 17th in the NCAA.
Running events at the Victor Lopez Classic opened with a bang for the Cougars Saturday night with a sweep of the men's and women's 4x100-meter relays. Houston's second squad of the day on the men's side won the event in 39.96, while the women claimed victory in a season-best 45.15 to move into a tie for 19th in the NCAA this year.
Freshman Naomi Taylor kept the momentum going for the women with a victory in the 100-meter hurdles. Taylor clocked the nation's seventh-fastest time this season at 13.45, while running into the wind, to take the victory.
Amere Lattin completed the sweep of the straight-track hurdles for the Cougars with a victory in the 110-meter edition. Lattin ran 14.09 into a 1.3 m/s headwind to take the top spot, while freshman Quivell Jordan finished third in14.58. Jordan's time moved him to No. 56 on the NCAA list in the early season.
Jordan would return later in the afternoon to run the fastest time in the nation this season in the 400-meter hurdles. Jordan finished the full-lap hurdles race in 51.11 to take the victory, while teammate Caleb Holl finished second in 53.53. Holl's time places him No. 35 in the NCAA.
The women picked up another top-3 finish in the sprints, when Justice Henderson took third in the women's 100-meter dash. Henderson ran 11.97 and was the second-fastest collegiate finisher in the race.
Brianne Bethel followed Henderson with a third-place finish of her own, taking the bronze in the women's 400-meter dash. Bethel clocked a personal-best time of 55.15 to move to No. 36 in the NCAA during the outdoor season.
In the middle-distance, Meredith Sorensen picked up a personal best in the 1,500-meter run, while taking a top-5 finish in the event. Sorensen crossed the line on the nearly, four-lap race in 4:40.28 to place fifth.
In the pole vault, Ben Percefull matched a personal-best by going up-and-over the bar at 16-0.75 (4.90m) to finish fourth.
The Cougars capped the weekend in a big way with yet another top-15 time, this time in the 4x400-meter relay. The men won the 1600-meter relay in 3:10.44 to move to No. 12 in the NCAA in the young season.
The women wrapped the meet with a second place finish in the 4x4. Houston nearly came back from third to first on the final leg, but came up just shy, falling to Western Michigan 3:45.88 to 3:45.86.
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