NCAA Championships Info | Results | ESPN Broadcast Schedule
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Houston men’s track and field team capped another historic season with their second-straight third-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championship on Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. Senior sprinter Kahmari Montgomery won the national title in the 400-meter dash to highlight three podium finishes and seven top-eight performances for the Cougars, as the team concluded the meet with 40 points.
Houston entered the final day of competition with eight points after Trumaine Jefferson’s record-breaking runner-up distance in the long jump on Wednesday. Houston, the five-time men’s outdoor American Champion, then took to the track Friday, combining for another 32 points. Texas Tech won the national title with 60 points, while Florida placed second with 50 points.
The Cougars matched The American’s as well as their own highest finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championship, reaching the podium for the second time since 1959. Houston ended the national meet with eight first team All-America performances. Senior sprinters Montgomery (400m, 4x400m) and Mario Buke (100m, 200m) and senior hurdler Amere Lattin (110mH, 400mH, 4x400m) each collected multiple first team All-America nods. Lattin, Montgomery and the Cougars’ 4x400-meter relay team all set American all-time records with top-three finishes. The conference has had 17 podium performances in its six-year span. At least one athlete has won a national title under The American’s banner for the past three seasons, as the conference has totaled six national outdoor champions.
Montgomery became the first American and Houston athlete to win the national title in the outdoor 400m. He ran the full lap around the track in 44.23 seconds, leaning ahead of North Carolina A&T’s Trevor Stewart at the finish line to claim the NCAA’s 400m crown. Re-setting his own conference outdoor record, Montgomery ran the fastest 400m in the country this season and the eighth-fastest in NCAA history. He improved from a seventh-place performance in this event a year ago. Montgomery has won The American’s 400m indoor and outdoor crown for the past two seasons and owns both the league’s championship records in his signature event.
Lattin finished a tremendous collegiate career with three All-America performances on Friday. The seven-time American outdoor hurdles champion started the day with a seventh-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles in 13.77 seconds—an event he has competed in at the NCAA Championships for four-straight years. It marked his second-best performance in that event at the national meet. Lattin returned to the track for the 400-meter hurdles, re-setting his own American record with a lifetime best mark of 48.72 seconds, good for the sixth-fastest time in the world this year and third place overall at the national meet.
Burke also ended a spectacular track career with the Cougars on Friday. The All-American senior sprinter finished sixth in the 100-meter dash in 10.06 seconds to start the night before clocking 20.11 seconds in the 200-meter dash to take fourth place. Burke had posted two sub-10 100m performances entering the final, including a conference record of 9.98 seconds in Wednesday’s prelims. He made his fourth-straight appearance at the national meet, earning All-American accolades at the outdoor championship for the eighth time in his career.
A third American record fell in the final event of the championship, as Houston’s relay team of Lattin, Montgomery, Jermaine Holt and Obi Igbokwe clocked a season-best time of 3:00.07 for third place. The Cougars improved from their fourth-place seeding. For the past four years, Houston has landed a top-three relay performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Two more Tiger women picked up All-America honors in the javelin throw as Mona Jaidi and Ashley Pryke finished 12th and 13th, respectively. Jaidi saved her best throw for last, reaching 50.95m (167-2) on her third and final attempt. Pryke, who qualified for the national championship for a third season, recorded her top throw of the night on her first attempt (49.39 meters). A three-time American champion, she placed seventh in the NCAA javelin throw in 2018 and third in 2017.
Adar Sheere, The American’s lone rookie competing on Friday night, finished 22nd in the discus throw with his top distance of the day traveling 53.30 meters (174-10). Sheere was the league’s Men’s Freshman of the Year after winning the conference’s discus title with a top-20 NCAA toss.
The women will conclude the 2019 outdoor season on Saturday, as Wichita State’s Rebekah Topham (3K steeplechase) and SMU’s Nicole Iloanya (triple jump) will compete for national titles in their respective event. The ESPN family of networks will broadcast all parts of the competition and ceremonies. All field events will have online broadcasts via ESPN3.
American Athletic Conference NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Qualifiers
Men
Mario Burke, Houston (100m, 200m)
Travis Collins, Houston (100m)
Jermaine Holt, Houston (4x400m)
Obi Igbokwe, Houston (400m, 4x400m)
Quivell Jordan, Houston (110mH)
Amere Lattin, Houston (110mH, 400mH, 4x400m)
Kahmari Montgomery, Houston (400m, 200m)
Trumaine Jefferson, Houston (LJ)
Tyrell Valentine, Houston (4x400m)
Davon DeMoss, Memphis (100m, 4x100m)
Calvin Austin III, Memphis (4x100m)
Andrew Bishop, Memphis (4x100m)
Imri Persiado, Memphis (4x100m)
Julian Sanchez-Pinto, Memphis (3,000m SC)
Adar Sheere, Memphis (DT)
Emmanuel Rotich, Tulane (3,000m SC)
Ben Johnson, Wichita State (Decathlon)
Aaron True, Wichita State (JT)
Women
Loren Gallmon, UCF (4x100m)
Ciara Holback, UCF (4x100m)
Beyonce Defreitas, UCF (4x100m)
Shaniya Williams, UCF (4x100m)
Caisja Chandler, Cincinnati (200m, 4x100m)
Haisha Bisiolu, Cincinnati (4x100m)
Faith Banks, Cincinnati (4x100m)
Tiona Lattimore, Cincinnati (4x100m)
Annette Echikunwoke, Cincinnati (HT, SP)
Susan Aneno, UConn (800m)
Kat Surin, UConn (400m)
Essance Sample, Houston (4x100m)
Samiyah Samuels, Houston (LJ, 4x100m)
Ashley Seymour, Houston (100m, 4x100m)
Naomi Taylor, Houston (100mH, 4x100m)
Ashley Pryke, Memphis (JT)
Mona Jaidi, Memphis (JT)
Tanalya Gordon, Memphis (LJ)
Chelsea Francis, SMU (100m)
Nicole Iloanya, SMU (TJ)
Rebekah Markel, Tulane (PV)
Rebekah Topham, Wichita State (3,000m SC)