University of Houston
Houston Invitational
HTownSpeedCity Hosting Houston Invitational
1/24/2019 11:56:00 AM | Track and Field
Cougars hold second of three meets on new indoor banked track
HOUSTON – The Houston Cougar Men's and Women's Track & Field Teams return to Yeoman Fieldhouse to host the two-day Houston Invitational across Jan. 25-26.
ABOUT THE HOUSTON INVITATIONAL
Action at the Houston Invitational begins in the field with the men's weight throw at 10 a.m., Friday. Running events will kick off at 4 p.m. with the women's 5,000-meter run. The women's pentathlon as well as the first four events of the men's heptathlon will also be held on Friday.
The action resumes Saturday at 11 a.m., with the conclusion of the men's heptathlon. Individual events will open with the women's shot put at noon, while the semifinals of the women's 60-meter dash kick off the running events at 12:50 p.m.
A full schedule of events for the Houston Invitational can be found with the meet information by clicking HERE.
The weekend meet will feature women's teams from SMU and USF as well as both men's and women's teams from Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Lamar, Prairie View A&M, Rice, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Southern, Texas Wesleyan, UT Rio Grande Valley and UTSA.
Live results for the Houston Invitational will be made available courtesy of Flash Results Texas and can be found by clicking HERE.
WHAT TO WATCH
Houston will look to put on a show to open the meet with three competitors in the women's weight throw. The meet record of 68-5.0 (20.85m) will be in jeopardy after Taylor Scaife, Priscilla Adejokun and Mikaila Martin threw three of Houston's top-5 all time marks a week ago at the Red Raider Invite. Scaife, the reigning American Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Week, broke her own school record with a mark of 68-8.0 (20.93m), while Adejokun moved to No. 2 in program history at 63-10.5 (19.47m) and Mikaila Martin threw 56-2.75 (17.14m) to rank fifth all-time.
Senior Felipe Valencia will compete in the throws on Saturday, when he enters the shot put with the nation's 26th-best mark this season. Valencia hit 60-4.0 (18.39m) to open his season with a victory in the Reveille Invitational.
Junior Nathaniel Mechler makes his return to the multi events, when he competes in the heptathlon at the Houston Invitational. Mechler, a 2018 NCAA Indoor All-American in the event, competes in her first heptathlon since placing eighth at the NCAA Championships a season ago.
A handful of sprinters bring nationally-ranked marks into Friday's competition. Nicholas Alexander, who holds the No. 33 time in the 60-meter dash this season, returns to the 200-meter dash for the first time since earning NCAA All-America honors in the outdoor event a season ago. In the men's 60-meter dash, John Lewis III (No. 50 NCAA) and Edward Sumler IV (No. 49 NCAA in the 200) will compete in qualifying, Friday.
Saturday's sprint events will be action packed for the Cougars, with four student-athletes entering with nationally ranked times. In the men's 200-meter dash, senior Obi Igbokwe (No. 5; 20.52) looks to reclaim the nation's lead, when he races alongside teammate Amere Lattin who holds the 14th-best time this season at 20.82.
In the women's 200-meter dash, Brianne Bethel will compete in the finals with the nation's 33rd-ranked 60-meter dash time. Bethel earned NCAA Outdoor All-America honors in each of the 100- and 200-meter dashes in 2018.
Kahmari Montgomery will be the final ranked Cougar to compete at the Houston Invitational, when he returns to his specialty, the 400-meter dash. Montgomery holds the NCAA's seventh-fastest 200-meter dash time this season at 20.98.
A trio of Houston hurdlers will be in action on Saturday, including senior Amere Lattin, who sets his sights on the school record of 7.71 in the 60-meter hurdles. Lattin matched the time at the Red Raider Invitational, but due to elevation, Lattin's time moved to 7.74, which places him second all-time at Houston and sixth in the NCAA.
Quivell Jordan enters the hurdles ranked 65th in the country at 8.03, while on the women's side, Naomi Taylor's season-best time of 8.33 places her 21st in the NCAA.
The Cougars' field events will be on display at the Houston Invitational as well, especially in the women's and men's long jump. Samiyah Samuels' personal-best leap of 20-7.0 (6.27m) places her eighth nationally, while for the men, freshman Lagarious McQuirter ranks 18th at 24-11.0 (7.59m) and senior Trumaine Jefferson made his season debut with a mark of 24-7.25 (7.50) to move to 25th in the country.
In the vertical jumps, sophomore Ben Percefull is set to compete in the pole vault with a season-best mark of 16-6.75 (5.05m), which ranks 51st in the NCAA, while in the high jump, Colin George sits 53rd after clearing the bar at 6-10.25 (2.09m) at the Reveille Invitational.
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).
Players Mentioned
