Feb. 1, 2008

The University of Texas-Pan American men and women's track and field programs will be back on the road as they compete in the Houston Invitational hosted by the University of Houston on Friday (Feb. 1).

"I feel we're going to do a lot better this week," said head men and women's track and field coach Dennis Darling. "I feel they rebuild their confidence levels back up and are willing to make that commitment to compete better."

With a 7-0.25 jump from last meet, UTPA All-American Will Littleton (Cuero, TX/Angelo State University) is one of many standouts expected at the Houston Invitational today.

"Will has been working on a few things that he needed to work on and he feels confident and ready to go," added Darling. "He will only be competing in the indoor season but is getting ready for NCAA Nationals and the USA Championships."

On the women's side, Vanessa Brown (Houston, TX/Elsik HS) and Carolina Izaguirre (Brownsville, TX/Hanna HS) will look to make a huge impact in this week's meet.

"Vanessa has been competing very well and hopefully finishes top five again. This will be Carolina's first meet and hopefully she is up there as well," said Darling.

Schools participating are host University of Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, Texas State, along with other Texas schools.

The two-day event begins today at 12 noon at the Yeoman Field House and wraps up on Saturday (Feb. 2) with finals beginning at 5 p.m.

UTPA Sports Information