Graduate Sydni Townsend lands top 10 in the world and first in the nation with a 57.17 finish in women’s 400m hurdles. | Courtesy of Juan Deleon UH Athletics.
The UH track and field team competed at the Victor Lopez Classic this weekend at Rice University. Houston walked away with 10 first-place finishes, and an additional seven Coogs finished on the podium.
Freshman Cordell Nwokeji won the shot put to start the competition, hitting a personal best of 18.27 meters, the tenth-best throw in the nation.
With a throw of 56.46 meters, junior Kevin Grubbs won the men’s discus.
Freshman Paris Kimblet placed third in the women’s shot put with a personal best throw of 14.26 meters.
Senior Caleb Malbrough finished first in the men’s long jump with a jump of 7.41 meters while junior My’Kell Beck, won the men’s high jump competition with a clearance of 2.10 meters.
Houston’s 4×100-meter relay team, consisting of freshmen Nicholas Byrd and King Micah Scales, senior Ireon Brown and sophomore Jaden Brown finished first with a time of 39.94 to kick off the running events.
In her first outdoor race as a Cougar, junior Miracle Thompson won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.61. Junior Trey East III, won on the men’s side with a timing of 46.23.
Graduate Kelly-Ann Beckford won the women’s 400 meters with a time of 52.79 for the seventh-fastest time in outdoor Houston history and the ninth-best time in the nation.
The Cougars finished with a top-10 finish in the world for the second time this season. Graduate Sydni Townsend achieved the feat with her first-place finish in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at 57.17. The time marked the best in the nation.
In the men’s 400-meter hurdles, junior Dillon Leacock crossed the finish line in a personal record-breaking 51.33 seconds to win the event.
Freshman Michaela Mouton rounded out the historic meet with a first-place 23.35 finish in the 200-meter dash.
Houston will head to Austin, Texas to participate in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays starting Wednesday.
