The Sub 9 Club

I know I stated this blog was dedicated to covering solely UH track and field, but there are things I've wanted to say and I have no other medium in which to publish it. I first learned of Tennessee's Christian Coleman when I went to interview Leroy Burrell for a feature about how Cameron Burrell had the countries fastest 60m time. It was then Coach Burrell informed me that actually Coleman had the top time. That day I learned how fast news changes in the track and field world. But I didn't think anything of it. I had seen what Burrell did the season prior, running 6.48s in the NCAA final and losing. I thought if he could run anything close to that time then he would be an NCAA champion. And for most of the season I had no reason to think otherwise. Burrell's time kept improving as the meets progressed. Coleman still had the top time at 6.51s, but I thought that was just one race he had run and that he wouldn't match it at the final. As the cha

Of the Cougars competing at their respective countries track and field championships this weekend, sophomore Mario Burke and junior Eli Hall-Thompson have punched their tickets to the IAAF World Championships in London this August. Mario Burke became the Barbados national champion in the 100m by running 10.12s in the final on Saturday. He followed up that performance with a time of 20.60s in the 200m Sunday evening. Burke’s time placed him in third place. For Burke, his qualifying for Worlds is the culmination of goals he set at the start of the season. After medaling for Barbados in consecutive summers at the U-20 level, the 2015 CARIFTA Games and 2016 IAAF U20 World Championships, it was Burke’s goal to represent his country at Worlds. Burke had already helped Barbados qualify for Worlds in the 4x100m earlier this year at the IAAF World Relays. There Barbados finished second behind Team USA. With the experience of competing at both the Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Cha

This Thursday marks the starts of the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas. 21 Athletes between the men and women will be competing in nine events and over the three days of competition. All the athletes have to do is place in the top 12 of their respective events to qualify for the NCAA West Regional. The following standings are where the declared athletes and relay teams sit on the NCAA West standings. Men The Cougars come into Austin with six athletes qualified in the sprinting events, three of them in the top ten. 100m Eli Hall-Thompson - 2nd (10.00s) Mario Burke - 9th (10.17s) Cameron Burrell - 19th (10.25s) John Lewis III - 24th (10.27s) 200m Eli Hall-Thompson - 1st (19.96s) Mario Burke - 13th (20.52s) Jacarias Martin - 15th (20.52s) 110H Amere Lattin - 10th (13.73s) 400H Amere Lattin - 14th (50.81s) Long Jump Trumaine Jefferson - 9th (7.87m) Antwan Dickerson - 10th (7.86m) Triple Jump Jared Kerr - 17th (15.77m) Shot Pu

Please take a look at my article at TheDailyCougar.com remembering the impact of Australian Olympic medalist Al Lawrence on the running community at both the university and the city of Houston. Cornerstone running coach passes away at 86

At the 2017 American Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, sophomore Trumaine Jefferson and juniors Jared Kerr and Antwan Dickerson went 1-3 in the men's long jump. That day the men won their third straight conference title by 62.5 points, the three of them scored 24 of them from that one event. At the Outdoor Championships all three again found their way to the podium. The only difference was that they medaled in separate events. After winning the indoor long jump, Jefferson came back and won the outdoor long jump with a distance of 7.87m. In addition to scoring ten points for his team, the mark was a new personal best by an entire meter. His performance moved Jefferson into a tie for No. 16 nationally and cemented his spot at No. 9 in the NCAA West Region. Dickerson ended up coming just short of his teammate with a personal best of 7.86m, one half inch short of Jefferson's mark. He will join Jefferson in Austin for regionals with the No. 10 best mark in the NCAA

In 2016, Amere Lattin qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles. He ended up placing fifth in the 100H final with a time of 13.80s. His performance earned Lattin the chance to represent the United States at the IAAF World U20 Championships that summer. There he won a silver medal in the 110H, but once he came back to Houston his entire mindset has been on getting back to Oregon. "It makes me keep my head down, keep grinding," Lattin said on his performance at the NCAA Championships. "Becuase I'm fifth I'm not first. And when I become first I still won't rest, I've got to keep it. It makes me keep shooting for what I want, which is to be an NCAA champion." In his freshman season, Lattin used the success of winning the AAC Outdoor 110H and 400H championships to propel himself onto the national stage. In his sophomore campaign, Lattin was coming off an indoor season where he earned a trip to the NC