The Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championships took place in Lubbock, Texas. The Cougars ended up with a fifth-place finish from the men and a 12th-place finish from the women’s team, which was an improvement from their 14th-place finish last season.
The return of Louie Hinchcliffe
This weekend saw 2024 100-meter NCAA champion junior Louie Hinchcliffe return to the college track world after jumping to the professional level in 2024. He then medaled with Great Britain in the 4×100-meter relay at the Paris Olympics.
Hinchcliffe signed with ASICS but was held back for the 2025 season with a series of back and hamstring injuries. He made the decision to re-enroll at the University of Houston with two years of eligibility left to compete and train under coach Carl Lewis.
Hinchcliffe competed in the 60-meter dash, placing seventh with a time of 6.66.
Hall breaks women’s triple jump record
Freshman Shienna Hall broke UH’s school record in the triple jump at the Big 12 championships. Hall achieved a distance of 13.02 meters to become the first woman in school history to surpass the 13-meter mark.
Hall was all-state in track her senior year of high school and placed third at the UIL state championships that year for the triple jump.
Program highs and best results: Men
In the men’s 400-meter, graduate Trey East III set a personal best time of 45.54, which was good for the second-best time in program history, and finished second place at this weekend’s meet.
Junior Antrea Mita earned second place with a season-best mark of 2.22m, setting him up to qualify for the NCAA Championships, with a tie for the seventh-best mark in the nation.
Freshman Dominic Harper placed fourth in the 200-meter dash, getting a time of 20.79 in his first Big 12 championship appearance.
Graduate Jamar Marshall Jr. got third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.54, tying the school record he set just weeks prior. Marshall is set to compete in the NCAA Championships, which will be his last meet as a Cougar.
The 4×400 meter relay team of sophomores Damarian Jacobs and King Taylor III, along with East and Harper, placed second, achieving a season-best time of 3:05.70, which is also the third-fastest time in school history.
The men’s distance medley relay of Freshman Zac Miller, sophomore King Taylor, sophomore Shawn Freeman and sophomore Remay Abraha achieved a fifth-place finish with a time of 9:42.78, for the third fastest time in school history.
The brotherly duo of graduate Grant Levesque and sophomore Owen Levesque took home fourth and eighth place in the heptathlon.
Lastly, junior Cordell Nwokeji took home third place in shot put, with a season-best of 18.49 meters.
Overall, the men earned 57 total points, while Texas Tech became the second program to win four straight titles with 125 points.
Program highs and best results: Women
Senior Kaycee McCoy continued her successful season, getting second in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.11. McCoy’s early-season performance in the Robert Platt Invitational has set her up to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
The 4×400 meter relay team of sophomore Carlysia Cresser, junior Michaela Mouton, freshmen Jada Stanford and Kamree Wolridge had a season-best and fourth all-time in program history time of 3:05.70 to claim sixth place.
In the shot put, sophomore Cleo Agyepong got second with her distance of 16.34 meters.
Houston’s women’s track team placed 12th overall with 22 points. Texas Tech’s women defended their first-place title with 114.5 points.
This marks the end of the indoor season for many members of Houston track; some are still waiting for conference championships around the country to finish to potentially receive an invitation to the NCAA indoor national championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Cougars will have a transition period before outdoor season starts, with them hosting their first meet on March 19 for the Kirk Baptiste Invitational at the Carl Lewis International Complex.
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