Cougars Open Indoor Track and Field Season at Yeoman Fieldhouse on Friday

HOUSTON– The University of Houston Track and Field program opens its 2024 season with the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational on Friday. Field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., and running events starting at noon.

LEONARD HILTON MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL
Date \| Time	Friday, Jan. 12 \| Field Events: 9 a.m. \| Running Events: Noon
Teams	Houston (host), Fort Scott CC, Houston Christian, Lamar, Minnesota, North Texas, Rice, Sam Houston, SMU, Texas Southern, Texas State
Location	Yeoman Fieldhouse \| Houston, Texas
Watch	UHCougars.com/watch
Live Stats	Flash Results
Meet Information	Meet Information and Links
Social Media	X: @uhcougartf \| Instagram: @uhcougartf \| Facebook: H-Town Speed City Track and Field \| #GoCoogs \| #HTownSpeedCity

ALL EYES ON SHAUN

Olympic finalist and NCAA All-American senior Shaun Maswanganyi returns for the Cougars for his senior season.
Maswanganyi was named to the 2024 Men's Preseason Watch List for The Bowerman, the USTFCCCA announced Wednesday.
The 10-time NCAA All-American is making his career Watch List debut and is the fourth Houston man to make the Watch List joining Cameron Burrell (2017, 2018), Elijah Hall (2018) and Kahmari Montgomery (2019).
In 2023, Maswanganyi earned All-America First-Team honors in the 60-meter dash, 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. The senior set the school record in the 100-meter dash at the 2023 NCAA Championships with a time of 9.91.
At Houston's final American Athletic Conference Championships, Maswanganyi won the Most Valuable Performance award, claiming titles in the 200-meter dash and 60-meter dash.
At the Outdoor Conference Championships, Maswanganyi earned first place in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and ran the anchor leg of Houston's ninth-consecutive 400-meter relay title.

STARTING LINE NOTES

The Cougars begin their inaugural Big 12 Conference season with the indoor Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational at the Yeoman Fieldhouse.
Houston returns 11 NCAA West Preliminary qualifiers from 2023, including three men and two women who qualified for the NCAA Championships.
The Cougars return five NCAA All-Americans, including Maswanganyi, senior De'Vion Wilson, graduate student Christyan Sampy, graduate Kelly-Ann Beckford and graduate Sydni Townsend.
Houston added two All-Americans to its roster: Grant Levesque and Devonte Burnett.
Hurdler De'Vion Wilson was the silver medalist at the NCAA Championships in the 110-meter hurdles by 0.02 seconds – Houston's best finish in the event since Darius Pemberton in 1986.
Pole vaulter Christyan Sampy returns after earning All-America First-Team honors at the NCAA Championships and All-America Second-Team Recognition at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Townsend makes her return as the graduate student broke the 32-year-old school record in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2023 American Athletic Conference Championships and became Houston's fourth woman to earn All-America honors in the 400 hurdles and the first Top-16 finish in 32 years.
Beckford returns after becoming the first All-American in the women's indoor 800 in program history.
After a Top-25 finish and earning back-to-back All-Region Honors at the NCAA South Central Regional Cross Country Meet, Claire Meyer will lead the women's distance crew on the track.
Branch Cox leads the men's distance crew after a 42^nd-place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional.

ABOUT LEONARD HILTON
Leonard Hilton was a University of Houston track and field letterman from 1967-71, was a member of the 1972 United States Olympic team and two-time American champion in the mile in 1973 and 1975. In addition to earning the distinction as the first native Texan to run a sub-4-minute mile, Hilton was also the anchor of the Cougars' relay team that set a world record in the indoor distance medley relay in 1970.

Originally from Hillsboro, Texas, and a graduate of Austin High School in Houston, Hilton became the first Cougar miler to break the 4-minute barrier. He accomplished that feat a stunning 32 times in official competitions. Hilton made the Olympic team in 1972 as a runner in the 5,000 meters. At the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, Hilton battled Steve Prefontaine in the 5,000 before finishing third in the event.

Hilton earned his degree in engineering from UH and later served as vice president of operations with Kinder Morgan Energy and Enron Corp. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in spring of 1999 and passed away in 2000.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Track and Field by supporting LinkingCoogs – UH's very own NIL collective, giving to Houston Rise, and by joining the Podium Club which provides support directly to Houston Track and Field for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
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