Sprinters going for the double sweep at conference

Last year the Cougar men were struggling to score points at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship until they ran the sprint events. The Cougars went on to score 94 points in the sprints on their way to a record 203 points.

One year later the Cougars are looking to not only continue their dominance in the sprints, but shut out the competition. A year ago the men owned six of the eight athletes in both the 100m and 200m finals. The squads had the top five and top four times respectively as they scored 34 points and 32 points. Now the Cougars’ goal is to own all eight runners in both finals.

“There’s no reason why we can’t,” junior Cameron Burrell said. “We have a good group of guys who work really hard and this is what we train for. So we’re going to go and perform to the best of our ability. And if it happens to be six, seven, eight guys in the final then that’s what we’re going to do.”

Burrell scored 34 points last year after placing third and second in the 100m and 200m, running the anchor leg of the victorious 4x100m relay team and winning the long jump. Burrell has been held back by a foot injury this season, keeping him from running a personal best or even competing in the long jump.

His 100m season best 10.26s will qualify him for the NCAA West Regional, but Burrell and the other sprinters know this is one of their last chances to shorten their times. The athletes need to rank in the NCAA West Top 48 to qualify for regionals. Going into the conference meet, the Cougars have seven sprinters with regional qualifying marks.

Dominating the field

The only threat to the Cougars goal of sweeping the 100m is Davon DeMoss of Memphis. As a freshman, DeMoss placed ninth in the conference prelims and missed out on the final. He has already played somewhat of a folly to the Cougars, placing third at the Indoor Conference 60m final. The only non-Cougar to place in the top 5.

He will be looking to play the part again as he is tied with sophomore Mario Burke for the No. 2 100m conference time, 10.17s. But even with DeMoss’ presence, the Cougars should dominate the sprints given the quality of athletes they have on their roster.

Junior Eli Hall-Thompson and Burke lead the Cougars as the only athletes with 100m times in the NCAA West Top 10. The two are coming off a performance at the Penn Relays where they finished first and third in the 100m. Hall-Thompson won the Cougars’ second straight 100m at Penn with a wind assisted 10.00s run.

“That was a big confidence booster for me, for my team,” Hall-Thompson said. “Coming in without having really done any block work the bweeks before that, I was really nervous about that situation but I felt like I had a good start and I had a good push. Coach Carl (Lewis) always tells me don’t worry about the start, it’s all about the finish. I took that knowledge and it got me all the way through the 100m.”

Sophomore Jacarias Martin as the only sprinter with qualifying times in the 100m and 200m. Martin and Hall-Thompson are tied with the fastest 200m conference time at 20.75s.

Together, Burrell, Burke, Martin and Hall-Thompson own the nation’s No. 2 time in the 4x100m relay at 38.59s. The four will be looking to fix any errors in their game before heading to Austin for regionals, hopefully adding some gold along the way.

“We’re not really worried about anybody,” Martin said “because at the end of the day we’re going to bring it. It’s all about who finishes first.”

Going for the triple

 Last season LeShon Collins was named Athlete of the Meet after winning the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay. But he was not the only Cougar to complete a triple at the championship meet. Amere Lattin, then a freshman, won the 110m and 400m hurdles and ran on the victorious 4x400m relay team.

Lattin sees it as his responsibility again to collect thirty points and help the relay team win. But this year he could score even more than thirty as he owns the No. 4 conference 200m time at 20.82s. On the national stage Lattin owns regional qualifying times for all four events. Knowing how a win at conference can propel someone to the national championships, Lattin says he wants to see his teammates dominate to the best of their ability come Sunday.

“(If) I’m fifth I’m not first and I won’t rest until I’m first,” Lattin said. “And when I become first I still won’t rest, I’ve got to keep it. It just makes me keep grinding and keep shooting for what I want, which is to be an NCAA champion.”