Cougar sprinters took home all three medals in the 100 meter dash. | Courtesy of UH Athletics
Numerous first place finishes launched the Cougars toward winning the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championships over the weekend.
The Cougars came out on top with 203 points, which is 55 points more than second-place finisher the University of Connecticut Huskies.
Senior sprinter LeShon Collins made headlines as he continued his standout senior season. Collins was named the Men’s Outstanding Track Performer of the meet with individual wins in the 100m and 200m and contributed to a team win in the 4x100m relay.
With his performance, Collins secured his ticket to the Olympic trials this summer.
The Cougars occupied the top five spots in the men’s 100m dash. In addition to Collins’s first place finish, Mario Burke edged out teammate Cameron Burrell to steal second place by one-hundredth of a second.
Burrell played a key role in the Cougars championship effort. The sophomore sprinter took home the gold medal in the long jump and just missed winning the 200m title by five-hundredths of a second.
Freshman Amere Lattin shined in his events by taking first place in both the 110m hurdles and the 400m dash.
Senior Issac Johnson locked up the gold in the 110m hurdles.
Junior Brian Barraza led all distance runners in total points by finishing second in the 1500m run and third in the 5000m. Having already qualified for regionals with standout performances earlier in the season, Barraza’s podium finishes only added to his decorated season.
Freshman Brian Bell added to his impressive debut season by claiming the 800m run conference title with a time of 1:49.71.
The women had six top-five finishes, but senior Selena Sierra and sophomore Diayja Sheppard both took home the conference title in their respective events. Sierra topped all runners in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:31.07. Sheppard’s jump of 1.73m was far enough to take the crown in the women’s high jump.
The women’s 4×100 relay team sped to a second place finish, falling just behind the University of Central Florida. Following suit, the women’s 4×400 team also took home silver in their race.
The men’s 4x100m team earned gold in the event with a time of 38.95. The men’s 4x400m team, which consists of all freshman runners, ran a time of 3:07.47 that netted them first place.
Between the men and women, the Cougars claimed eight individual titles, two relay victories, 21 top-three finishes and 34 top-five finishes.
The athletes will now look to the West Regional on May 27-28.
