Junior Devin Fahey (left) and freshman Brandon Seagreaves had podium finishes in the mile, two of five Cougars with top-10 finishes in the event. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar
The Cougars made their mark during their indoor home-opening track meet at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational on Friday, as they brought in six first-place finishes.
Houston came out strong with senior Brendon Rivera at first place for the high jump as he recorded 2.05 meters.
For the women’s side, senior Mikaila Martin took home first for the women’s weight throw with a mark of 18.80 meters.
Along with Martin, junior Miles Marhofer won the weight throw, for the second consecutive season, with a throw of 20.55 meters.
Marhofer also finished fourth in the shot put followed by sophomore Johnny Howell at fifth-place.
Three Cougars finished in the top-10 for shot put, thanks to senior Nora Monie’s second-place finish at 15.57 meters, sophomore Hailey Pollard in third-place 13.21 meters, and Martin at sixth with a mark of 12.11 meters.
Freshman Destiny Lawrence came in at second in the women’s triple jump with a spring of 12.74 meters.
In the women’s pole vault junior Sarah Howe recorded a collegiate-best of 3.81 meters while junior Olivia Winterkamp finished fifth at 3.51 meters.
For the women’s long jump, senior Samiyah Samuels came in fourth with 5.94 meters.
Three Cougars ranked in the top 10 for the men’s pole vault. Junior Ben Percefull placed second with a mark of 5.05 meters, followed by sophomores Tyler Safford and Jacob Adair who both finished at 4.90 meters.
In the women’s 60-meter dash final, junior Naomi Taylor, junior Essance Sample, and sophomore Ashley Seymour finished first, second, and third respectively.
Taylor also moved on to the finals for the women’s 60-meter hurdles and took home first place with a time of 8.23, while sophomore Tonia Adeyemi also placed in the final.
Five Cougars advanced to the 60-meter dash final with Houston taking the top three spots. Senior Terence Ware took home first with a time of 6.81 while senior Travis Collins followed right behind, with junior Nicholas Alexander and sophomore Jordan Booker both finishing a 6.82.
In the men’s 60-meter hurdles final, senior Dayo Akindele finished first with a time of 7.78, tying for the eighth-fastest time in the country.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay came in second at 3:10.11 while the women were third with a time of 3:53.22.
Four Cougars placed within the top-10 in the men’s 200-meter. Alexander came in second, followed by sophomore Fredrick Lewis, junior Tyrell Valentine and Ware.
Senior Brianne Bethel represented Houston in the top-10 of the 200-meter as she took home third place.
Junior Devin Fahey came in second for the men’s mile with a time of 4:24.36. Freshmen Brandon Seagreaves, Alan Elabanna, and Jaime Vega, along with sophomore Gabe Armijo each followed behind to round out the top 10.
For the women’s mile, freshman Darby Gauntt finished seventh for her indoor debut.
In the men’s 800-meter, junior David Marquise Patrick recorded a time of 1:56.19 to earn third place.
Freshman Joshua White tallied a time of 49.84 for a fifth place finish.
Up next, the Cougars will hit the road to compete in the Texas Tech Raider Invitational on Jan. 24.
