The UH track and field team had an impressive showing over the weekend throughout multiple competitions, which saw the program win a few event titles. | File photo
The Houston track and field team took part and completed both the Drake Relays and the J. Fred Duckett Twilight on Saturday, as separate teams put on several impressive performances throughout their events on all days.
On the first day of competition at the Drake Relays, graduate student Meredith Sorensen led the way for the UH track and field team with an eighth-place finish and a personal-best record in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:40.34.
Junior Devin Vallejo-Bannister picked up a top ten finish of his own with a 10th-place finish in the men’s 1,500-meter run of 3:52.85.
On the second day, the Cougars started things off on the right foot as the men’s 4×200 meter relay finished in first place. The team was led by juniors Christian Hamberlin and Edward Sumler IV, graduate student Travis Collins and freshman Shaun Maswanganyi.
Junior Cecilia Tamayo-Garza followed up with a victory of her own, placing first in the women’s 200-meter run with an impressive time of 23.94.
Graduate student Nora Monie continued her dominance in the women’s discus throw, posting a program-best 58.05-meter throw en route to a first-place finish in the event as she now holds the five best throws in the event in the program’s history.
Two Cougars grabbed top-five finishes in the men’s pole vault as sophomore Christyan Sampy and graduate student Antonio Ruiz placed second and fourth in the event while recording the second-best clearance in program history at 5.32 meters.
Junior Triston Gibbons posted a personal best 18.99 meters in the men’s shot put to grab a fifth-place finish on the day, while junior Benjamin Okafor placed third in the men’s long jump with a distance of 7.29 meters.
On the last day of the competition, the men’s 4×100 meter relays team picked up a second victory with a time of 39.14 as senior Nicholas Alexander filled in for Hamberlin.
Senior Naomi Taylor picked up the third first-place finish for the women in the competition with a victory in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, clocking in a time of 12.84.
Alexander later came back with a second-place finish in the men’s 100-meter at 10.42, with freshman Dylan Brown finishing right behind in third with a time of 10.44.
Graduate students Mikaila Martin and Taylor Scaife finished third and fifth in the women’s hammer throw, posting throws of 64.21 and 61.47 meters, respectively, while junior DJ Akindele finished third in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.03.
Both 4×400 meter relay teams capped off the competition for the Cougars as the women’s team finished second with a time of 3:40.09, while the men’s team took third place, clocking in at 3:09.41.
In the J. Fred Duckett Twilight, sophomore Imari Chatman and graduate student Erin Derrow led the way for the Cougars, picking up third and fourth-place finishes with personal-best times of 59.33 and 59.44, respectively.
The UH track and field team’s next competition will see them stay in the state where they will take part in the two-day Texas Invite on April 30 and May 1 in Austin.
