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Pair of cougars punch their tickets to the World Championships

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USA ran 38.43s in the 4x100m final to punch their ticket to London

Three members of the UH track & field program received the chance to represent their country on the world stage. Sophomore Mario Burke, freshman Brianne Bethel, and Class of 2016 graduate LeShon Collins each received an invite to run at the IAAF World Relays in Nassau, Bahamas this weekend.

Collins and Burke ended day 1 with a gold and a silver medal respectively after USA and Barbados came in first and second respectively. As members of the 4x100m relay teams the two have become the first to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in London this August.

"It's the kind of thing we expect," UH Head Coach Leroy Burrell said. "We want to be successful in conference and then nationally. (We want to) produce a couple athletes that can compete at the international level and ultimately at the highest level of the game."

For Collins, the multi-time All-American and conference champion, this was his first time representing the United States at a senior level. He had represented the USA at a Junior Olympic level prior to this meet but had failed to qualify at the Olympic Trials over the summer. However Collins came back and had a strong post collegiate debut, finishing 2nd in the 60m at the USATF Indoor Championships.

As a member of Coach Carl Lewis' Team Perfect Method, his time and subsequent performances, including a 10.00s 100m invitational win at the Texas Relays, earned him a call up for the Relays.

Collins did not run in the preliminary races but the United States easily qualified for the final with a time of 38.22s, second only to Canada.

But in the final Collins donned the blue uniform and ran in the first leg of the 4x1. His teammates included 2015 World Relays champion Mike Rodgers, 2-time NCAA champion Ronnie Baker and Olympic gold medalist Justin Gatlin.

The United States won easily with a time of 38.43s, following errors by both Great Britain and Canada. It may not have been the final that the fans wanted, but the USA punched their ticket to the World Championships.

For Burke, getting to London for the World Championships is something he has been focused on since this summer. Burke has already made history for Barbados, winning their first medal at the IAAF World U20 Championships this summer, so he has been on his national teams radar for some time. His coaches see it as only a matter of time before he become one of the top 3 sprinters in Barbados and qualifies individually for worlds.

"Making this World Relays team is almost a guarantee to be in London," Burke said. "But that's not my main goal. My main goal is to run individual instead of the relays. Te relays is good bit an added bonus (is) the 100 and 200."

At his first senior level meet, Burke ran the first leg for Barbados' 4x100m relay team in both the heats and the final. He was joined alongside Olympians Ramon Gittens and Burkheart Ellis Jr. In the heats Barbados came in second to Great Britain in heat 3 with a time of 39.26s and automatically qualifying for the final.

Running in lane 8, the Barbados team edged the Republic of China for second place with a time of 39.18s, a season best. They may have been helped by both Canada and Great Britain suffering errors, but at the end of the day the four runners still have medals around their necks.

Now all eyes turn towards Brianne Bethel and women's 4x100m. Bethel and the Bahamas team will start their day in lane 3 of Heat 1 at 7pm central time. With two members of the Cougar track & field program already advancing to Worlds, it would be special for all three to accomplish the feat. But at the moment Bethel is solely focused on bringing pride to her country on its home track.

"That's our goal and we're going for it," Bethel said. "We've got to get to these World Championship games becuase I know all of us have the ability and are capable of doing it."
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Photo Courtesy of IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook Page

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