The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Huff turns from the gridiron to the track
01.29.2005 | Football
After deciding to return to Texas for his senior season with the Longhorns football team, junior Michael Huff made another important decision by joining the Longhorns track team. He is now the second Longhorns football player on the 2005 Texas track and field roster joining defensive end Brian Robison, who is in his third year as one of Texas' premier performers in the throwing events.
In his first race since finishing seventh in the 100 meters at the 2000 USATF Junior Olympics, Huff finished third in the 60 meters at the Houston Indoor Classic on Saturday, Jan. 29. He ran a 6.82 in the finals, which is just one-tenth of a second away from provisionally qualifying for the national indoor meet. He ran a 6.90 in the preliminaries to qualify for the final. Robison also competed at the Houston Indoor, winning the shot put with a throw of 17.59m (57-8.50 ft.) while finishing third in the weight throw (17.30m, 56-9.25).
"It felt great to get back on the track," said Huff, a 2004 honorable mention All-America pick by Pro Football Weekly for his work as a safety. "I felt like I did a nice job considering this was my first race in four years, but I still have some work to do. I want to get more comfortable with my start, but it felt pretty good today."
Huff's presence helps to provide some depth for head coach Bubba Thornton's sprint group, which is led by junior Quincy Boles. It will be important for Huff to continue to get more comfortable on the track and he'll have a chance to do so when he travels to New York City with the rest of the team to compete at the Armory Collegiate Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 4-5.
Check back with Mack Brown-TexasFootball.com and TexasSports.com for daily conversations with Huff while he is in New York City.
