UH track and field junior Nu’uausala Tuilefano broke a 34-year-old program record in the shot put on Saturday. | Courtesy of UH athletics
After one day of competition at the Boots Garland Invitational, the Houston track and field team put on a strong showing en route to picking up seven first-place finishes and 28 total podium finishes.
The weekend was highlighted by junior Nu’uausala Tuilefano, who shattered a 34-year-old program record in the shot put with a toss of 16.49 meters.
The UH track and field team started the event off on the right foot as graduate student Nora Monie picked up another victory in the women’s discus throw, posting a throw of 51.64 meters.
It was not long until the Cougars saw the podium again, as three athletes grabbed the top three spots in the men’s pole vault, led by sophomore Christyan Sampy in first and graduate student Antonio Ruiz in second at 5.31 meters each, with senior Ben Percefull finishing in third place at 5.16 meters.
Graduate student Mikaila Martin picked up on the Cougars’ success, placing second in the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 65.27 meters.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team came just short of victory by tenths of a second in their event, finishing in second place with a time of 39.00 led by junior Nicholas Alexander, senior Travis Collins, sophomore Edward Sumler IV and freshman Shaun Maswanganyi.
In the men’s long jump, junior Benjamin Okafor and graduate student Dayo Akindele picked up second and third-place finishes with jumps of 7.44 and 7.37 meters, respectively, while graduate student Samiyah Samuels placed second in the women’s long jump with the distance of 6.27 meters.
UH track and field sophomore Brandon Seagreaves kept the momentum on the Cougars’ side with a victory in the men’s 1,500-meter run, clocking in a time of 3:54.85.
Senior Naomi Taylor came up tenths of a second short of a victory in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, coming in second place with a time of 13.13, while junior DJ Akindele picked up a third-place finish in the men’s 110 meter hurdles at 14.04.
Graduate student Brianne Bethel finished first place in the women’s 400-meter run, posting a time of 52.87, while graduate student Jermaine Holt saw himself finish second place in the men’s 400 at 46.83.
Senior Miles Marhofer joined the party with a first-place finish of his own in the men’s hammer throw, picking up a distance of 62.17 meters.
Maswanganyi and Collins finished second and third, respectively, in the men’s 100-meter dash with times of 10.18 and 10.25, while graduate student Tristan Evelyn finished third in the women’s 100-meter dash at 11.33.
The Cougars’ kept collecting podium finishes on the day, as Junior Christian Gilmore picked up a victory in the men’s 800-meter run, clocking in a time of 1:51.00, while sophomore Imari Chatman (1:00.28) and graduate student Erin Derrow (1:00.70) finished second and third in the women’s 400-meter hurdles.
Sophomore Destiny Lawrence finished third in the women’s triple jump at 12.19 meters, as sophomore Jaden Brome and freshman Caleb Malbrough picked up second and third-place finishes in the men’s triple jump with distances of 15.49 and 15.17 meters.
In the men’s 400-meter hurdles, senior Quivell Jordan finished second-place with a time of 50.90.
Junior Cecilia Tamayo-Garza finished third-place in the women’s 200-meter dash at 23.16, while freshman Macie Ellis finished second in the women’s 3,000-meter run at 10:37.50.
The Cougars’ next competition will see them travel to Des Moines, Iowa, where they will take part in the Drake Relays from Wednesday to Saturday.
