**HOUSTON –**The Houston Cougar Men’s and Women’s Track & Field team will travel to Philadelphia to compete in the Penn Relays across April 25-27, Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the Drake Relays across April 26-27, and College Station to compete in the Alumni Muster on April 27th.
_ _ ABOUT THE PENN RELAYS The 125th Edition of the Penn Relays will kick off Thursday at 8 a.m. CT, with the women’s discus throw, while running events start at 9 a.m. CT, with the women’s 400-meter hurdles championship.
_ _ Friday’s action will kick off at 8 a.m. CT, with both the men’s 400-meter hurdles championship and men’s discus throw.
_ _ The final day of competition sees an even earlier start, with the Olympic Development Men’s 5k Racewalk starting at 6 a.m. CT, while the first Houston competitor will compete in in the College Men’s 4x800 Championship of American Invitational at 12 p.m. CT. Field events open action at 8 a.m. CT, with the men’s triple jump.
_ _ A full schedule of events for the Penn Relays can be found by clicking HERE.
_ _ ABOUT THE DRAKE RELAYS The two-day event starts on Friday at 8 a.m. CT, with Houston hitting the track at 8:50 a.m. CT, for the women’s 4x800-meter relay. Field events will begin at 8:30 a.m. CT with Houston opening action at 10 a.m. CT with the women’s long jump. The evening running session starts at 5 p.m. CT, and the Cougars will compete in the 200-meter dash that is set for a 5:14 p.m. CT start.
_ _ The second and final day the Penn Relays will begin at 8 a.m. CT and the Cougars will hit the track shortly after that at 8:30 a.m. CT for the women’s distance medley. Field events will get going later on in the day at 9 a.m. CT, with the women’s hammer throw.
Houston alum Cameron Burrell will be in attendance at the meet, representing the USA at a member of Team USA for the USA vs. the World Relays.
_ _ The meet schedule for the Drake Relays can be found by clicking HERE.
_ _ ABOUT THE ALUMNI MUSTER The one-day event sees a later start at 12:30 p.m. CT, with the women’s hammer throw, while running events kick off at 5 p.m. CT, with the women’s 100-meter hurdles.
_ _ A full list of the schedule for the Alumni Muster can be found by clicking HERE.
Junior Samiyah Samuels got things going for the Cougars in the field events, notching a first-place finish in the Long Jump Championship with a mark of 20-1.5 (6.13).
_ _ On the track, the women’s 4x100-meter relay team paced the field and clinched a first-place finish in the event with a time of 44.92. Naomi Taylor, Essance Sample, Cecilia Tamayo-Garza, and Ashley Seymourwill appear in the Championship Final of the event tomorrow afternoon.
_ _ The women’s distance medley squad also brought home a top-five finish after finishing fourth in the event. Jennifer Dunlap, Ebony White, Britani Gonzales, and Meredith Sorenson combined a time of 11:42.12 in the event.
_ _ The Cougars will return to action tomorrow morning at Franklin Field at 8 a.m. CT, results can be accessed by clicking HERE. Action at the Drake Relays will begin tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. CT, results can be found HERE.
Sorry about not updating the thread. Been crazy busy since Wednesday and yesterday was an exhaustion day as I slept almost all day. Will be catching up with everything tonight when I have time.
AT THE PENN RELAYS The Houston women’s 4x100-meter relay team made up of Essance Sample, Whitney Ochiam, Ashley Seymour and Cecilia Tamayo-Garza claimed Houston’s first Penn Relays women’s Championship of America title by clocking a time of 44.11.
_ _ On the men’s side, the men’s 4x100-meter relay squad picked up right where the ladies left off, clinching the top spot in the prelims of the event to advance to the Championship Invitational. Nicholas Alexander, Mario Burke, Brandon Taylor and Travis Collins combined for a time of 39.79
_ _ The men’s 4x200-meter relay team led the field and took top honors in the Championship of America Invitational with a time of 1:22.04, for the Cougars second relay win of the meet.
_ _ The Cougars continued to have a stellar day on the track when Burke took first-place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.32, advancing to the Championship Invitational.
_ _ At the Penn Relays, Seymour finished second in the 100-meter dash as she clocked a lifetime-best 11.65 to advance to the championship. Tamayo-Garza also qualified after coming in fifth-place with a lifetime-best of 11.74. Closing out the field for the Cougars was Sample as she also clocked a lifetime-best of 11.79, advancing to the final.
_ _ For the second consecutive weekend Felipe Valencia finished among the top-two in the shot put. Valencia placed second in the Men’s College Shot Put Championship with a throw of 60-9.00 (18.52).
_ _ On the women’s side, Houston closed out the 4x200-meter relay in third-place. Payge Side, Sample, Tamayo-Garza, and Seymour clocked a time of 1:34.36.
_ _ Amere Lattin, Naaman Outing, Thomas Alcorn, and Obi Igbokwe will be moving on to the Championship Invitational in the men’s 4x400-meter relay after closing out the event with a third-place with a time of 3:07.50.
_ _ Lagarious McQuirter walked away with a fifth-place finish in the long jump championship with a mark of 23-8.25 (7.22).
_ _ AT THE DRAKE RELAYS A trio of Cougars will advance to the final of the 100-meter dash. With a wind-aided time of 10.17 Terence Ware collected a first-place finish in the event. Also qualifying and moving on to the next round is Edward Sumler IV as he finished with a time of 10.51 in sixth-place. Finally, John Lewis III will advance to the final after clocking a time of 10.53 for eighth-place.
_ _ Jordan Booker, Lewis III, Terence Ware and Sumler IV won their heat and took a second-place finish overall in the men’s 4x100-meter relay. The team notched a time of 40.00 and will advance to the semifinals tomorrow.
AT THE PENN RELAYS
_ _ The Houston men’s 4x100-meter relay squad set things off early for the Cougars with a first-place finish in the Championship Invitational. Nicholas Alexander, Mario Burke, Brandon Taylor, and Travis Collins combined for a time of 39.23 in the event. The Cougars have now won the event for three consecutive years at the Penn Relays.
_ _ The Cougars success at Franklin Field did not stop there as the men’s 4x400-meter relay squad once again locked up the top spot with a NCAA-leading time of 3:02.61. Amere Lattin, Jermaine Holt, Mario Burke, and Obi Igbokwe took home the third Championship Invitational relay victory of the meet for Houston and in doing so made Houston the sixth program in Penn Relays history to sweep the sprint relays and the first since 2006. The time also ranks second all-time in program history.
_ _ Naomi Taylor took home top honors in the 100-meter hurdles, leading the field with a time of 13.26.
_ _ AT THE DRAKE RELAYS
_ _ Terence Ware paced the Cougars in the final of the men’s 100-meter dash, posting a second-place finish with a wind-aided time of 10.45.
_ _ The Cougar relays continued to have a fantastic day on the track as the men’s 4x100-meter squad turned in a third-place finish at Drake. John Lewis III, Terence Ware, Jordan Booker, and Edward Sumler IV finished third with a time of 40.72.
_ _ Much like at Penn, the men’s 4x400-meter relay squad could not be stopped at the Blue Oval. Frederick Lewis, Tyrell Valentine, Quivell Jordan and Trumaine Jefferson combined for a first-place finish in the event with a time of 3:09.66. With the victory the Cougars clinched titles at both the Penn Relays and Drake Relays in the event.
_ _ AT THE ALUMNI MUSTER
_ _ The throwers kept things hot for the Cougars over at Texas A&M. Mikaila Martin and Priscilla Adejokun took the top two spots in the women’s hammer throw. Martin finished in first-place with a lifetime-best throw of 193-7 (59.01) and was followed by Adejokun in second-place at 182-3 (55-56).
_ _ Adejokun continued to set the tone for the Cougars with a second-place finish in the shot put. Her best throw came on her second attempt at 46-10 (14.37).
_ _ In the men’s long jump, Kenneth Pree finished in third-place with a jump of 23-2 ½ (7.07).
_ _ The Cougar distance personnel had success this weekend as well, as Blake Contreras closed out the 1500-meter run in third-place with a time of 3:56.14.
_ _ On the women’s side Erin Derrow posted a lifetime best time of 1:01.31 in the 400-meter hurdles, taking second-place,
_ _ The ladies had a stellar showing in the women’s discus led by a third-place finish from Ryan Pickering 156-1 (47.59), fourth-place finish from Hailey Pollard at 154-11 (47.22), and Kimberly Haines in fifth-place at 148-5 (45.25).
_ _ Brendon Rivera beat out the field in the men’s high jump with a mark of 6-10 ¼ (2.09).
