The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Indoor Championships
Men's Track and Field in top five at NCAA Indoor Championships behind DMR win
03.14.2008 | Track & Field / Cross Country m, Track & Field / Cross Country
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The Texas distance-medley relay ended its record-setting season with the ultimate goal as the quartet of Jacob Hernandez, Danzell Fortson, Tevan Everett and Leo Manzano captured the 2008 national title, besting the field in nine minutes, 32.04 seconds.
The DMR's 10 points coupled with a surprising six points from freshman pole vaulter Maston Wallace has the Longhorns in fourth-place (16 points) at the end of the first day of the 2008 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at Randal Tyson Track Center.
The distance-medley relay brought home the first relay national title in program history. The winning quartet included three of the four legs (Hernandez, Fortson and Manzano) from the world-record setting relay.
Hernandez (Magnolia, Texas), who typically takes the 800-meter segment, ran the opening 1,200 meters for the first time all season as redshirt junior Kyle Miller (Katy, Texas) was injured during the mile run preliminary. Two-time Big 12 600-yard champion and Texas junior Tevan Everett (Bel-Aire, Kan.) stepped in as the alternate, running the 800 leg. Fortson (Dallas, Texas) ran the 400-meter portion and Manzano (Marble Falls, Texas), who won his third overall NCAA title and first as a relay member, anchored the championship relay.
Houston native Maston Wallace had the highlight of the day for the Longhorns as the freshman pole vaulter finished third with a lifetime-best clearance of 17-8.5 (5.40m). The first-year Longhorn was the last pole vaulter to make it into the meet as the NCAA committee added him after the initial descending order list was posted. Wallace's vault ties him with three-time NCAA heptathlon national champion Donovan Kilmartin for third on UT's all-time performers' list.
Texas has a pair of runners entered into tomorrow's mile run final. Defending champion Manzano easily qualified for the mile final as the top finisher in his heat. Manzano, the defending champion, stayed within the top three runners throughout the entire race, crossing the line in 4:05.42. Senior Jake Morse (Arlington, Texas) used a strong kick to finish in 4:06.08 and advance with the eighth-fastest time in the prelims.
UT high jumpers Raymond Harris (Nacogdoches, Texas) and Joel Hargett (Conroe, Texas) are scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m. Central.
Earlier in the day, the Longhorns suffered a setback as Hernandez did not advance to the 800-meter final as he was disqualified from the race for a lane violation. Hernandez was ranked fourth in NCAA entering in the event.
POSTMEET QUOTES
HEAD COACH BUBBA THORNTON
On the championship performance from the DMR: It's a true credit to the depth we have on our team. We made the change after the injury (to Kyle Miller) in the mile so it was great that we came away with the victory.
JUNIOR TRANSFER TEVAN EVERETT (third leg of the championship DMR)
On stepping in as the alternate for the DMR: I knew I was the alternate coming into this meet. My coach told me that I should be prepared to run at any time. We had some unfortunate events happen earlier in the meet, and so I knew when those took place, I'd be asked to run the DMR. I knew what I needed to do, and I've been in a situation like this before. I think I got the job done.
On winning first NCAA title: It feels very good to win the national title. I transferred (from Kansas State) to Texas for one reason, and that's because I knew I could be on a national championship team here.
FRESHMAN DANZELL FORTSON (second leg of DMR)
On winning first NCAA title: It's greater than I expected. It's a blessing that we won at conference and then the distance-medley at nationals. This is a great feeling. This means so much more because we had some setbacks today, and we still came through with the win. I just wanted to run my part of the race and not mess up because I'm a freshman and the most inexperienced.
JACOB HERNANDEZ (first leg of DMR)
On mentality after this morning: I joked with Tevan about running the 1,200, and a few seconds later, my coach came over to let me know I was on that leg. I knew I had to step it up for the team. I felt confident in my training to step into the segment. I'm just privileged to run with the group that I do. We share a family atmosphere so this is really exciting to share with them.
LEO MANZANO (anchor leg of DMR)
On winning the NCAA championship: Last year was a disappointment in the event for our team, so it is nice to put together a complete race today and get the victory. It was a strong all-around effort by everyone on the team. We were thrown off a bit going into the race because we had to change our order. (Kyle Miller) was supposed to run the 1,200-meters but got injured pretty badly in the mile so we had to change it up quickly and still run our race. Fortunately that didn't affect our performance and we won the race.
FRESHMAN MASTON WALLACE
On earning All-American honors in the pole vault: It is a great feeling. When you barely qualify and you do things right in your competition, there's no better feeling than that.
On making the adjustment to the bigger poles: This was my first time jumping on taller poles. It all started to come together during warm-ups. I came in at 16-8.75 (5.10m) and missed so I just tried to stay calm. Sometimes I get excited and start trying too hard. Today I just focused and tried to relax in between jumps.
NCAA RESULTS (March 14, 2008)
Distance-medley relay FINAL
1. Texas (Jacob Hernandez, Danzell Fortson, Tevan Everett, Leo Manzano), 9:32.04
Pole vault FINAL
1. Rory Quiller (Binghamton), 18-0.5 (5.50m)
3. Maston Wallace (Texas) 17-8.5 (5.40m)
Mile run preliminary
p1. Garrett Heath (Stanford), 4:05.22
p2. Leo Manzano (Texas), 4:05.42
p8. Jake Morse (Texas), 4:06.08
--. Kyle Miller (Texas), DNF
800 meter run preliminary
p1. Elkana Kosgei (LSU), 1:49.03
--. Jacob Hernandez (Texas), DQ
