EUGENE, Ore. -- The Houston Cougar men's 4x100-meter relay team is the 2017 NCAA champion after winning the event at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at historic Hayward Field on Friday.
Houston's team of John Lewis III, Mario Burke, Jacarias Martin and Cameron Burrell passed the baton one lap around the track in a blistering 38.34 to claim the NCAA title by edging Auburn (38.44).
Houston's time broke the school record that was set in 2016 when that squad consisting of Burrell, Martin, Burke and LeShon Collins took silver in 38.44. The mark for the Cougars ranks as the No. 4 time in NCAA Championship history and is the sixth-fastest time ever run in the collegiate ranks. Houston also set a Hayward Field mark, topping LSU's NCAA Championship-winning time of 38.42 from 2016.
The 4x100-meter relay championship was the second in school history for the Cougars and the first since Charles Young, Mark McNeil, Anthony Ketchum and Stanley Floyd won gold in 1982 (38.53). That squad's mark stood as the school record until 2016.
As a program, the Cougars' gold medal was the first NCAA Championship for Houston since 2013 when Errol Nolan claimed the indoor 400-meter dash title. The win was the first outdoor championship for the Cougars since Sam Jefferson's 100-meter dash win in 1994.
Cameron Burrell was back on the track an hour later for the finals of the 100-meter dash. Burrell qualified third overall on Wednesday after winning his heat in a school-record 9.93. With the conditions cold, wet and windy for the final, Burrell crossed the line in 10.12 to claim the silver medal. The runner-up finish for Burrell is the top Houston performance in the event since Jefferson's gold in Boise, Idaho Boise, Idaho.
With the second place finish, Burrell completed his fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships in a straight-track race after qualifying for the indoor 60-meter dash and the outdoor 100-meter dash in each of the last two seasons. Burrell's silver medal was the fourth of his career after taking second in each of the 2016 and 2017 NCAA indoor 60 championships and helping the Cougars to a runner-up finish in the 4x100-meter relay in 2016.
Burrell and the 4x100-meter relay squad combined to score 18 points for the Cougars, marking their highest point total since 1989 when Tom Tellez's team scored 21 points. The Cougars placed tied for 12th overall at the NCAA Championships marking back-to-back seasons the team has finished inside the top-15 and the 13th time they have accomplished that feat in program history.
Tulsa's Marc Scott, who won the NCAA title in the 10,000-meter run Wednesday to start the championship, earned his ninth all-America honor and second in the last three days as he finished fourth in the 5,000 with a time of 14:36.57 Friday.
Scott made a late move with around 200 meters left in the race, passing a couple of runners to secure fourth while Stanford's Grant Fisher took first place by just over a second from Scott place with a time of 14:35.60.
The senior became Tulsa's second national champion two days ago with a first place finish in the 10,000-meters.
Tulane sophomore Emmanuel Rotich completed his historic run at the NCAA Championships as well, placing ninth in the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 18th in the 5,000-meter run.
Rotich was the first Green Wave male track and field athlete to compete in more than one event at the NCAA championships, and the first Tulane athlete to run the 5,000 at the national championships.
The second-year runner from Sotik, Republic of Kenya, will earn second-team All-America honors for his finish in the steeplechase. He turned in a career-best time of 8:40.64, just two seconds behind Furman's Troy Reeder for eighth place.