Several members of the UH track and field team performed at the national level at the Houston Indoor Invitational this weekend at Yeoman Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Christi Jones had a time of 7.4 seconds in the women’s 60-meter dash, giving her first place in the event. Her time is one of the 10 best in the nation this year. Jones was able to hold off TCU junior Jessica Young, who also had a NCAA provisional mark.
Senior Seun Adigun’s time of 8.33 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles preliminary round is the ninth-best time in the NCAA this season and the second best in Conference USA. Adigun chose to not participate in the finals because the race was not scored.
The Cougar track and field team’s new additions proved they were a valuable part of the team as UH underclassmen gained top finishes in the meet.
Sophomore Kiara Pulliam’s 14.18 meter toss (48 feet, 6.67 inches) in the shot put competition gave her a victory.
Freshman Starla Garcia set a season-best in the 5,000-meter race, finishing the competition in 18:04.88 to grab third place.
In the men’s division, UH finished first in the 4-by-400-meter relay with a time of 3:18. ‘
Freshman Isaiah Sweeney completed the 60-meter preliminaries in 6.85 seconds, setting a personal record and a conference-leading time. In the finals, Sweeny struggled to a seventh-place finish. ‘
Sweeney came in 18th place in the 200-meter competition with a time of 23 seconds. Freshman Kevin Hobson ran the race in 22.05 seconds to finish second overall and first among collegiate runners.
Freshman Jesse Rodriguez grabbed sixth place with a time of 1:57.28 in the 800-meter dash. ‘
Freshman Andres Santaolalla’s time of 16:33.01 in the men’s 5000-meter race allowed him to nab a tenth place finish.
Freshman Matt Dudley’s throw of 15.8 meters (51 feet, 10 inches) in the shot-put competition snagged him the number six spot.
Freshman Stephanie Aldea’s season-best time of 10:19.52 in the 3,000-meter race bumped her into seventh place.
Senior Grant Hightower grabbed the No. 9 spot in the men’s long jump competition with a leap of 6.77 meters (22 feet, 2.5 inches). ‘
The Cougars will head to the New Balance Invitational in New York City on Friday and Saturday.
