Houston Sweeps Shot Put Titles on Second Day of Championships

Saturday, May 15

Tampa, Fla.

University of Houston

American Athletic Conference Championships

ATH - Texas Relays, University of Houston

Photo by: For Houston Athletics

Houston Sweeps Shot Put Titles on Second Day of Championships

5/15/2021 9:06:00 PM | Track and Field

Nu’uausala Tuilefano and Triston Gibbons secure meet records in Tampa

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Track & Field program concluded the second day of meet action at the 2021 American Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a sweep of the Shot Put titles and podium finishes in several other events.

The Houston women sit atop the team standings after two days of meet action with 58 points, as the men sit in fourth-place with 18 points.

Action will resume for the Cougars tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 p.m. ET

Each day of meet action will be streamed live via ESPN+. Links for both results and the stream can be found below:

Friday Broadcast
Saturday Broadcast
Sunday Broadcast
Live Results
Men's Heat Sheets
Women's Heat Sheets

Nu'uausala Tuilefano gave her competition just about all they could handle, securing her first league title as a Cougar. Tuilefano won the women's Shot Put with a meet and program record toss of 17.11m (56-1 ¾) on her third attempt of the day. Tuilefano becomes the first Cougar to win the title since UH joined The American and the first Cougar since Chigozie Chuku in 1999 (C-USA). Nora Monie secured a fourth-place finish in the event with a mark of 15.42m (50-7 ¼), followed by Hailey Pollard with a career-day and fifth-place finish at 15.11m (49-7).

Triston Gibbons had an outstanding day in the ring, earning a crucial 10 points for the Cougars. Sitting in second-place prior to his final attempt of the day, Gibbons unleashed a toss of 19.05m (62-6) on his last throw to win the event for the Cougars. Gibbons won the event by over two feet, becoming the second Cougar in as many seasons to take home the title. Gibbon's performance matches the third-best in program history and is a conference meet record.

In the women's long jump, Samiyah Samuels secured a second-place finish behind a leap measuring 6.35m (20-10) on her sixth attempt to add another accolade to her already outstanding resume. It only took three attempts for Destiny Lawrence to secure a fourth-place finish and set a new personal best in the event. On her first jump of the day Lawrence recorded a mark of 6.24m (20-5 ¾), earning All-Conference accolades.

On the men's side, Benjamin Okafor finished third in the long jump, recording a jump measuring in at 7.43m (24- 4 ½) on his final trip down the runway.

Sarah Howe continues to pace the Cougar pole vaulters on the women's side, earning the first outdoor podium finish of her career. Howe had a stellar day, clearing 4.02m (13 2 ¼) en route to a third-place finish.

Meredith Sorensen tacked on more points for the UH women after finishing seventh in the Steeplechase. The senior closed out the race with a time of 10:51.95.

In the prelims of the track events, UH put itself in scoring position for tomorrow's final day of action. Sarah Belle clocked a personal-best in the 100-meter hurdles at 13.52, finishing sixth in the prelims and advancing to the final. The Akindele brothers will take up two lanes in the final of the 110-meter hurdles as Dayo Akindele finished atop the leaderboard with a time of 13.65 in the prelims, followed by DJ Akindele in third-place at 13.97. DJ Akindele's finish marks a personal-best for the sophomore.

Christian Gilmore picked up an automatic qualifier for the final of the 800-meter after finishing second in his heat at 1:53.47.

Brianne Bethel will represent the Cougars in the final of the 400-meter after shaving some time off her previous collegiate-best in the event and clocking the fastest time of the day at 52.76. On the men's side, three Cougar men will advance led by the second-fastest qualifying time of the day from Jermaine Holt (47.53). Holt also won his heat. Tyrell Valentine clocked a qualifying time of 47.92, followed by Joshua White at 48.11 to advance to tomorrow's final.

The UH women will have three competitors in the 100-meter final led by Houston senior Tristan Evelyn. Evelyn clocked the third-fastest time of the day at 11.27, followed by Cecilia Tamayo-Garza (11.28) and Camille Rutherford (11.32).

The Houston men will again be competing against one another, as seven of the eight qualifiers for the 100-meter final are members of #HTownSpeedCity. Shaun Maswanganyi led the way with a wind-aided time of 10.05, as the Cougars won all three heats of the event. Jordan Booker clocked the second-fastest time of the day at 10.20, followed by Travis Collins at 10.22 and Christian Hamberlin coming in at 10.23. Nicholas Alexander finished with the fifth-fastest time of the day at 10.25, as Edward Sumler IV (10.30) and Dylan Brown (10.38) rounded out the field for UH.

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