Coming off a well-rounded performance at the New Mexico Cherry and Silver International last weekend, which included five of the top performances in UH history, the Cougars look to carry that momentum into the Houston Indoor Opener on Friday and Saturday.
In addition to the school records, there were also three personal records and three provisional marks set last weekend.
Juniors Chris Carter and Christie Jones and freshman Errol Nolan each earned provisional marks. In the men’s triple jump, Carter posted a 15.87-meter leap, and in the 60-meter dash, Jones had a 7.44-second finish and Nolan ran it in 6.76 seconds. Jones and Nolan also notched top UH performance marks.
Head coach Leroy Burrell is eager for better performances from his team, despite a quality showing by the Cougars in New Mexico.
“We’re really satisfied with those particular athletes, but we really feel like we have fallen short of a few goals,’ Burrell said. “I feel like our women’s 4×400-meter relay should put up a provisional mark.”
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team of Whitney Harris, Tara Prier, Kalyn Floyd and Alysha Cook finished second, in 3 minutes, 46.45 seconds.
“We’re just a little bit behind on the women, and that’s going to be our goal this weekend to get some of our athletes who have had opportunities, but have missed them, to hit those opportunities this weekend,” Burrell said.
Carter continues to perform at a high level, while teammate Lamar Delaney landed a 15.35-meter jump for third place and hopes to duplicate his fellow leaper’s success.
“It gives me something to work for, a good foundation,” Carter said. “It sets the tone for me to come here and do well this weekend. (Delaney) looked OK, and I know he can improve.”
Nolan also continued his success, as he became the second Cougar of the day to earn both a provisional mark and post an all-time top-five performance, joining Jones. His finish of 21.20 seconds in the 200-meter is the fifth-best mark in UH history. Isaiah Sweeney added a personal top performance with a time of 21.32 to finish in third place.
“Errol’s a natural born leader and an extremely talented young athlete. I think we’re going to see some really good things out of him, but he’s not the only one,” Burrell said. “Cameron LaCour, we opened him up last weekend. He’s an All-American coming out of high school, so we expect big things from him.”
