For the second consecutive season, the University of Houston men’s track and field team claimed the Conference USA Outdoor Championship title, collecting 191 points at the UCF Track and Field Complex Sunday night. The women finished in sixth place with 75 points.
Head coach Leroy Burrell was named Coach of the Year for the 16th time in his tenure at Houston.
Errol Nolan shared Co-Freshman of the Year with Rice’s Gabe Cuadra, while Isaiah Sweeney was awarded the title of High Point Scorer of the Meet after he earned four medals, including two gold.
The women’s 4x100m relay team – Christie Jones, Whitney Harris, Kaylyn Floyd and Grecia Bolton – set a conference meet record with a first-place time of 43.82. The finish was one tenth of a second away from the school record, making the mark the second-best time in program history. On the men’s side, the squad, consisting of Sweeney, Tryon Carrier, Joseph Irabor and Nolan, took silver with a time of 40.05.
Nolan notched the gold in the men’s 400m dash, clocking 46.16, while Irabor finished in sixth with a time of 48.56. For the women, Harris finished in fourth with a mark of 54.53, and Tara Prier took sixth with a time of 55.54.
Jason Perez notched his second consecutive 400m hurdles outdoor title, clocking 50.84. Darryl Cloud took bronze with a time of 52.32. Doug Kelley claimed the men’s 800m crown with a time of 1:50.88.
Chris Carter also defended his crown, taking gold in the triple jump with a leap of 15.51m (50-10.75). Lamar Delaney followed with bronze, jumping a distance of 15.36m (50-04.75).
All four Cougars set personal records in the men’s 110m hurdles. Cameron LaCour was runner-up with a time of 13.72, missing the gold by one one-hundredth of a second. Thomas Lang followed in fifth place, clocking 14.32. Darryl Cloud and Wesley Bray rounded off the scorers, finishing in seventh (14.67) and eighth (14.91), respectively. In the women’s 100m hurdles, Alysha Cook topped her personal performances with a time of 13.85.
Sweeney, who took the long jump crown on Saturday, claimed silver in the men’s 100m dash, clocking 10.51. Carrier also scored with a fifth-place finish of 10.67. On the women’s side, Jones and Bolton finished sixth and seventh, respectively, crossing the finish line at 11.68 and 11.77.
Sweeney added to his collection of medals when he finished first in the men’s 200m dash, clocking a personal best time of 21.13. Carrier and Irabor also scored, finishing in fifth and seventh, respectively. For the women, Jones claimed silver with a time of 23.76.
The women’s 4x400m relay team, consisting of Kalyn Floyd, Prier, Brittany Wallace and Clarissa Payton, claimed silver with a time of 3:38.51.
Bryan Brown took bronze in the men’s pole vault, eclipsing the bar at 4.95m (16-02.75). Kiera Pulliam also finished third in the women’s shot put with a mark of 14.31m (46-11.50).
