Sports

Coogs to let good times roll at LSU meet

By Jada Clayton
The Daily Cougar

The UH track team will face some tough competition this weekend in Baton Rouge, La., where host Louisiana State will welcome the Cougars and others with the nationis No. 1-ranked women's team and No. 3-ranked menis team at the LSU Alumni Gold outdoor meet.

Pin Lim/The Daily Cougar

UH head coach Leroy Burrell looks at this competition as a chance to come down after a tough round of competition at the Texas Relays in Austin last week.

"We had a big meet last week and this is like a recovery week for us," Burrell said. "The competition this weekend will focus on the individual events. The team is doing pretty well, so I think this will be a good competition for us. LSU has a great team and the level of competition is high."

Many of the runners are looking forward to the meet, such as senior heptathlon athlete Briana Bassler.

"A lot of people are going to be there," Bassler said. "We should get good marks because there is going to be good competition, there is a fast track there and good weather to win in."

Senior 100- and 200-meter runner Fred Day hopes to build on his teamis past performances and try to meet individual goals.

"A lot of runners are going to try to run their personal best this weekend," Day said. "We are one of the top teams in the nation and too much came off a good weekend at the Texas Relays so we should do well."

For some of the athletes, such as freshman shot putter Jacob Rodriguez, it will be their first time theyive faced the Tigers.

"This is my first meet and I look up to a lot of athletes that are going to be there. There is also going to be competition from the LSU team," Rodriguez said. "I really want to focus on getting a personal high score. I want to get a 54 or 55 in the shot-put competition. If I get 53 that will be good, but I would like to get 54 or 55 for my score.

The Cougaris 4-by-100 menis relay team is undefeated and is second in the nation.

Athlete of the Week

Sophomore Shayla Bowman was honored with a Conference USA Womenis Track and Field Athlete of the Week award after she set a new school record in the hammer throw at the Texas Relays.

Bowmanis throw of 168 feet, 8 inches also qualified her for the NCAA Regional Championships. It was more than 14 feet longer than her previous best.

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