Houston to Host Leonard Hilton Invitational

Friday, January 11

Houston, Texas

All Day

University of Houston

Leonard Hilton Invitational

1/10/2019 3:18:00 PM | Track and Field

Home Meet Info

Cougars debut new 200-meter indoor banked track inside Yeoman Fieldhouse

HOUSTON – The Houston Cougar Men's and Women's Track & Field teams will debut the new 200-meter indoor banked track inside Yeoman Fieldhouse with the Leonard Hilton Invitational on Friday.

A handful of select athletes will also compete at the Texas Tech Corky Classic on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas.

ABOUT THE LEONARD HILTON INVITATIONAL
Friday's Leonard Hilton Invitational is Houston's first of three home meets on the new indoor banked track. The Cougars will compete alongside Rice, Grambling and Southern on Friday.

Action is set to kick off at 11 a.m. with the women's weight throw. Running events will begin with the women's distance medley relay at 1:30 p.m.

Complete information for the Leonard Hilton Invitational can be found by clicking HERE.

ABOUT THE CORKY CLASSIC
Saturday's Corky Classic is slated to begin at 11 a.m., with the field events, while the running events open with the women's mile at 1 p.m. The meet will feature teams from Oklahoma, UTEP and the host school Texas Tech.

A full schedule of events for the Corky Classic can be found by clicking HERE.

WHAT TO WATCH IN HOUSTON
Houston will look to put on a show in the men's and women's 60-meter dash. The Cougars will enter four All-Americans and six NCAA top-60 runners into the competition. Mario Burke enters with the No. 6 time in the 60 this season, while Nicholas Alexander ranks 23rd and John Lewis III and freshman Jais Smith rank tied for 54^th.

On the women's side, Ariele Adams heads into the second week of competition with the No. 47 time in the NCAA at 7.64.

Elsewhere on the track, Quivell Jordan returns to the straight-track hurdles with the No. 38 time in the NCAA in the 60-hurdles this season, while Aaron Hurd will compete in the 800-meter run for the first time this season after running the No. 58 time in the nation in the mile on opening weekend.
A pair of Cougars will look to improve on their top-ranked marks in the shot put at the Leonard Hilton. Felipe Valencia won the Reveille Invitational with the nation's eighth-best throw in the shot put, while Triston Gibbons made his collegiate debut in College Station with the 34^th-best throw.

In the vertical jumps, Colin George enters the new year with the 15^th-best mark in the men's high jump at 6-10.25 (2.09m), while Ben Percefull cleared the pole vault bar at 15-7.75 (4.77m) to rank 48^th in the country. Also in the field, All-American Samiyah Samuels returns to the runway to compete in the long jump for the first time this season.

The Cougars will feature 10 student-athletes making their collegiate debuts on Friday, including six from the distance teams. In the women's mile, Maddy Castleberry, Megan DeRouen and Regan Lobodzinski will make their debuts in the mile, while Devin Vallejo-Bannister will run the mile on the men's side and Jemal Wote and Gabe Armijo will run the men's 3,000-meter run.

In the sprints, Erin Derrow will make her debut in the women's 200-meter dash, while Brandon Adams steps onto the track for the first time in the men's 400-meter dash. Brendon Rivera and Lagarious McQuirter will make their debuts in the field with Rivera high jumping and McQuirter competing in the long jump.

A full list of competitors can be found with the heat sheets by clicking HERE.

WHAT TO WATCH IN LUBBOCK
The champions of each of the men's and women's 60-meter hurdles at the Reveille Invitational will return to action at the Corky Classic in Lubbock. Lattin ran the No. 2 time in the NCAA on the men's side in 7.82. On the women's side, Taylor ran 8.33 to clock the nation's third-fastest time and earn American Athlete of the Week honors.

Senior Kahmari Montgomery, who was named to The Bowerman Preseason Watch List will make his season debut in the 400-meter dash, while senior transfer Obi Igbokwe will make his debut with the Cougars as well.

A full list of competitors can be found with the heat sheets by clicking HERE.

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 Cross Country team has established its own official Facebook (facebook.com/UHCougarTF) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarTF).