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Relays seconds away from first Penn championship in 28 years


After a strong performance by the relay teams on Friday, the Cougars qualified all three of the men's sprint relay teams for the final on Saturday. The Cougars have put themselves in fine position to win a relay championship at Penn for the first time since Head Coach Leroy Burrell did it in 1989 with the 4x100m.

On Friday the 4x100m relay team of junior Cameron Burrell, sophomores Mario Burke and Jacarias Martin and junior Eli Hall-Thompson ran a combined 39.28s. The toughest opponents for the Cougars were from the University of Auburn and the University of Oregon. Both teams came into the meet with the No. 7 and No. 10 relay times respectively.

However the Cougars easily qualified for the final with the fastest preliminary time as both Auburn and Oregon ran 39.66s to tie for second place. Now they are looking to break the Penn Record of 38.68s and win the relays.

Martin and Hall-Thompson got to run with the baton for the second time that day as members of the 4x200m relay team. Alongside sophomore John Lewis III and senior Curtis Brown, the team won Heat 2 with a time of 1:23.49. That proved to be the third fastest qualifying time as G.C. Foster College and the University of South Carolina ran 1:21.91 and 1:22.77 respectively.

Lastly, sophomore Amere Lattin, freshman Daniel Ford, Burke and junior Trumaine Jefferson ran 3:09.49 to win Heat 3 of the 4x400m. However Heat 2 had the top 3 fastest times from Auburn, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Clemson. The Cougars only managed to finish seventh with their time but did qualify for the final.

Individual qualifiers

Hall-Thompson, Burke and Lewis III all competed individually in the 100m as well as their respective relays. Hall-Thompson, in just his second meet of the outdoor season, ran 10.14s in legal conditions. Beating out UTech's Michael Campbell for the fastest qualifying time. At the moment his time would be No. 9 in the NCAA and No. 5 in the NCAA West.

Burke and Lewis III placed fifth and sixth respectively with times of 10.43s and 10.46s. In total the Cougars have three athletes in the 100m final.

Lattin, as he has been doing all season, qualified for the finals of the 110m hurdles. Lattin ran 10.47s to qualify fifth overall. The final will see Lattin pitted against the nation's top two hurdlers in Chad Zallow of Youngstown State and Freddie Crittenden III of Syracuse. The two qualified second and third overall with times of 13.54s and 13.77s.

Jefferson meanwhile was inches away from victory in the long jump championship event. Yann Randrianasolo of South Carolina jumped 7.76m to Jefferson's 7.74m. A total separation of a quarter of an inch. However the jump keeps Jefferson in contention for regional qualification.

Championship Saturday starts at 12:40pm central time for the Cougars.
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Photo Courtesy of UH Athletics

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