The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Invitational
Seven wins at Texas Invitational for Men's Track & Field
04.14.2012 | Track & Field / Cross Country m, Track & Field / Cross Country
April 14, 2012
Texas Invitational Results 
AUSTIN, Texas - The No. 6 Texas Men's Track & Field team battled strong winds to leave the Texas Invitational with victories in seven events.
"We are back in the grind now," said head coach Bubba Thornton. "It was good to be out here today. All in all it was good to get started again but we need to stay focused on everything that is coming at us."
The day was filled with windy conditions from start to finish with steady gusts between 20-30 mph. The strong winds affected the competition but the Longhorns were able to post some really good finishes throughout.
"This is exactly the kind of weather we can have at the end of the year," said Thornton. "Today will only prepare us for that. For the most part, we handled business today. There were a few mental mistakes but that is why we have these kind of competitions, to work them out. The wind was not a positive for us but whatever the conditions are we have to deal with them and beat people."
Junior Marquise Goodwin competed in the long jump for the first time during the 2012 outdoor season. He started on a good note as his first jump was the winning one. He went 26-00.25 (7.93m), tying for the fourth longest jump in the NCAA this season. Mark Jackson took third place in the event with a 23-08.75 (7.23m) and Petter Olson jumped 14-11.25 (4.55m).
"It is hard to time your jump with the wind," said Goodwin. "Marks can be anywhere as the wind could push then ease up, then push and ease up again. I had to push through that but once I was able to finally get on the board, things were good."
Goodwin also had a good day in the 100m dash as the top collegiate finisher with a time of 10.32. He was joined in the sprint race by Mark Jackson (3rd, 10.34), Trevante Rhodes (4th, 10.45), Emerson Sanders (5th, 10.46), Alex Williams (9th, 10.58) and Aaron Scott (13th, 10.70).
Senior Jacob Thormaehlen had another strong day with his throws. He continued his streak of wins and has now won the shot put in all three meets this season. His second throw sailed 63-05.50 (19.34m) to give him the crown. He is the nation's leader in the event. He also started off the day with a second place finish in the hammer throw, tossing it 187-11 (57.28m).
"My body felt good and the technique felt good," said Thormaehlen. "I was hoping for a better throw but a win is always good. I am ready for Ryan to come back and Hayden (Baillio), Will (Spence) and Blake (Jakobsson) are all doing great. If we can all make it to nationals that would be great."
Freshman Ryan Crouser was the top collegiate thrower in the discus. He was one foot shy of the winner with a mark of 182-0 (55.48m). Redshirt freshman Blake Jakobsson was next in the standings with a personal-best toss of 177-9 (54.19m). Also in the event were Hayden Baillio in fifth (176-4, 53.76m), Spence in sixth (170-10, 52.06m) and Thormaehlen in eighth (168-9, 51.44m).
Junior C.J. Jessett ran his first 800m of the year and earned the top finish among the college runners with a time of 1:51.50. He was able to overtake his teammate, freshman Kyle Thompson in the final straightaway as Thompson ran a 1:51.88 for second. Three others also ran the 800m with Patrick McGregor in fifth (1:54.70), Kevin Rayes in ninth (1:55.61) and Will Antkowiak in 14th (1:56.83) for his first race of the outdoor season.
"I have not ran a 800 since my freshman year, so it was definitely fun getting back out here," said Jessett. "I was not really sure what to do but I knew I am pretty safe when I save it until the last bit. Though I gambled a bit in this race by not getting out quickly so I had to make up a lot but I came out alright."
The two relays also went in favor of the Longhorns. The Texas B group won the 4x100m race with a time of 40.65. Alex Williams led things off and Dereck Dreyer finished it. Aaron Scott and Emerson Sanders ran the other legs of the relay. Dreyer also ran the anchor leg of the first place 4x400m relay. He took the baton from Sheroid Evans and within the first turn took over the lead for good. Josh Brudnick and Isaac Murphy ran the first two legs of the team's 3:12.54 race.
"I saw Texas Southern ahead of us so I was thinking that I have to catch up to them," said Dreyer. "I was thinking that they would be running pretty fast so my first thought was to catch up and stay behind them but then I saw that I could take the lead. I caught him and never looked back."
The shot put featured three Longhorns in the top four. After Thormaehlen was Hayden Baillio in third (59-06.25, 18.14m) and Will Spence in fourth (58-04.50, 17.79m). Blake Jakobsson competed in the event for the first time outdoors in his career, throwing 49-07.25 (15.12m) for eighth.
Junior Maston Wallace made his outdoor debut in the pole vault. In his first meet, he cleared 17-01.50 (5.22m) for the fourth best and third best by a college athlete. Right after him was Mark Thomas in fifth with the same height. Casey Wicker and Hayden Clark tied for seventh with a height of 16-07.50 (5.07m). Kenny Greaves tied for 10th with a 16-01.75 (4.92m).
In a fast 400m dash, Dreyer and Evans finished back-to-back in sixth and seventh. They were the second and third fastest college athletes in the race. Dreyer posted a time of 48.11 while Evans made his Texas outdoor debut with a 48.24. Also running were Kenny Greaves (50.53) in 22nd and Aaron Kelley (51.71) in 30th.
"It was nice to run here at home," said Evans. "I thought I would not have been able to run with my team here after missing Texas Relays but it feels good to run at home. It feels good to be out here with this team and to have my football teammates here cheering me on."
For Evans it was his first race of the outdoor season as he hadn't competed since suffering an injury in February at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
Josh Brudnick ran his fastest time of the year in the 400m hurdles, taking fifth place with a 54.41. Decathlete Petter Olson competed in the 110m hurdles and clocked a 14.71 for seventh overall. Jarard Bruner made the finals of the triple jump and finished third overall among the college athletes with a jump of 50-05.50 (15.38m).
Also in the hammer throw, junior Hayden Baillio made his first mark of the outdoor season with a 169-5 (51.65m) for seventh. He was followed by Blake Jakobsson in eighth (167-9, 51.14m) and Will Spence in 12th (143-2, 43.63m).
Sophomore Phil Wood made his outdoor debut in the 1,500m run and claimed eighth with a time of 4:07.39.
The 200m dash was a very fast race with some of the top runners professional runners entered in. For UT Rhodes was ninth with a 21.20, Scott was 14th with a 21.34 and three pole vaulters also competed including Wicker (22.70), Clark (22.71) and Thomas (23.36).
