The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men's Track & Field preview: NCAA West Preliminary Round
05.22.2013 | Track & Field / Cross Country m, Track & Field / Cross Country
NCAA West Preliminary Round Headquarters | NCAA Outdoor Championships - Declarations/Start Lists/Results | NCAA West Preliminary Notes (PDF)
May 22, 2013
The Men's Track and Field team, which is No. 8 in this week's USTFCCCA computer rankings, has 22 athletes accepted in 11 events at the three-day NCAA Division I West Preliminary Round.
The Longhorns are serving as host for the second-straight year. This is the fourth year of the East and West Regional format, with UT serving as the host three times (also in 2010). Athletes who rank among the top 48 in their respective event earned berths into the NCAA West Preliminary Round. The best 24 relay times also advanced to NCAA prelims. Athletes with the top 12 times/marks and the best 12 relay times at both the East and West prelims will qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships (June 5-8) in Eugene, Ore.
West Regional Entries: More than 1,600 athletes will descend on Austin for the West Preliminary Round. There will be 872 male athletes representing 97 schools and 806 female athletes from 102 institutions at the three-day meet.
Longhorns with High Seeds: There are 10 Longhorns seeded among the top 12 in the West Region in nine events:
- Zack Bilderback - 400 meters (46.08 - 8th)
- Kyle Thompson - 800 meters (1:48.48 - 6th)
- Kyle Merber - 1,500 meters (3:41.63 - 10th)
- Ryan Dohner - 10,000 meters (29:20.19 - 9th)
- Craig Lutz - 10,000 meters (29:22.75 - 12th)
- Keiron Stewart - 110-meter hurdles (13.51w - 4th)
- Trevor Van Ackeren - 3,000m steeplechase (8:49.74 - 12th)
- Ryan Crouser - shot put (69-2.50/21.09m - 1st), discus (194-6/59.28m - 6th)
- Will Spence - shot put (61-5/18.72m - 9th)
- Hayden Baillio - shot put (60-4.50/18.40m - 10th)
The Longhorns did have other athletes ranked among the top 48 who will not compete. Victor Glaze II was tied for seventh in the West in the high jump with a leap of 7-1 1/2 (2.17m), but he injured a knee recently and had to be scratched. Dohner and Lutz had qualifying times in the 5,000 meters, but will only compete in the 10,000. Patrick McGregor is only entered in the 1,500 meters, though he had a qualifying time in the 800. In addition, decathletes Johannes Hock (long jump, discus and javelin) and Isaac Murphy (100m and long jump) had qualifying marks in other events, but will not compete again until the NCAA Championships. The 4x100-meter relay unit of Basil Fares, Emerson Sanders, Stewart and Murphy clocked a qualifying time of 40.50, which would have been seeded 24th. But Stewart is recovering from a leg injury and Murphy is nursing one.
Doubling Up: The Texas throwers are the only ones declared in more than one West Regional event. Ryan Crouser leads the nation in the shot put with a school-record toss of 69-2 1/2 (21.09m) at the Big 12 Championships. He will also compete in the discus where he ranks No. 6 in the West with a mark of 194-6 (59.28m). Hayden Baillio and Will Spence will also participate in both the shot put and discus.
Decathletes Qualify for NCAAs: There is no decathlon competition at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, but Johnanes Hock and Isaac Murphy have already punched their tickets to the national meet. The top 24 decathlon marks in the nation earn an automatic berth to next month's NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. Hock has the top decathlon mark in the nation (8,293) and Murphy ranks 10th (7,758). Hock was voted the 2013 Big 12 Outdoor Outstanding Male Freshman of the Year after setting a meet record at the league meet. He led from start to finish, posting the second-best tally in school history, the No. 2 mark in the world this year and seventh-highest total in collegiate history. Murphy, who was seventh at the 2012 NCAA Championships, posted his total in March at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Staying at Home: The Longhorns have only left the state of Texas twice to compete since the NCAA Indoor Championships. The team traveled to Tucson, Ariz., on April 6 for the Jim Click Shootout and sent a group of distance runners to the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., on April 18-19. Texas claimed the Big 12 Outdoor title three weeks ago in Waco, Texas. The Longhorns have won the league outdoor title each of the four times it was held at Baylor (also 1997, 1999, 2006).
A Clean Sweep: The Longhorns rolled up 146.50 points at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships to down rival Oklahoma (133 points) and seven other schools during the three-day meet at Baylor. The victory earned Texas a sweep of the Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles for the third time in school history. The Longhorns last won the league outdoor crown in 2006, which was the last year they made the indoor-outdoor sweep. They also swept in 1999. The Horns also won the Big 12 outdoor title in 1997 and 2003.
Crouser Among the Best in the World: Sophomore Ryan Crouser impressed during the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, tossing the implement a personal-best 67 1/2 (20.43m) to capture the University shot put (section A) title. That was Crouser's first competition since the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Championships due to ailments. That toss ranked No. 6 on the 2013 world's performer's list, No. 1 in the collegiate ranks and No. 5 on the Texas all-time performance chart heading into the Big 12 meet where Crouser put on one of the best performances in school history. He set a Big 12 meet and school record in the shot put, bettering his nation-leading mark on three of his six attempts. His winning throw of 69-2 1/2 (21.09m) bested the field by more than seven inches and snapped Brian Robison's school record of 68-3 3/4 (20.82m), set in 2006. Couser, a two-time first team All-American, eclipsed the league meet record of 69-0 (21.03m) set by Christian Cantwell (Missouri) in 2003. Crouser's toss ranks No. 5 on the 2013 world performers list, according to the IAAF and Track and Field News.
Spence in the Top 25 in Two Events: Along with Ryan Crouser, sophomore Will Spence is ranked among the best in the nation in two events. Spence had a personal-best toss of 61-5 (18.72m) in the shot put (No. 20 nationally) at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. He posted what was then a personal-best toss of 187-4 (57.11m) in the discus at the Relays, but improved upon that at the Texas Invitational when he went 188-8 (57.52m). That mark is tied for 23rd in the nation.
Did You Know?: Texas has two of the six athletes who rank among the top 25 nationally in both the shot put and discus. Ryan Crouser is the first on the 2013 NCAA performers list in the shot put and 12th in the discus. Will Spence is 20th in the shot and tied for 23rd in the discus. Kole Weldon of Texas Tech is second in the shot put and 19th in the discus, Chad Wright of Nebraska is fourth in the shot put and second in the discus, Danny Block of Wisconsin is fourth in the discus and sixth in the shot put, and Darian Brown of Texas State is 14th in the shot put and 17th in the discus.
Texas Tidbits:
- Keiron Stewart, a six-time All-American, will be seeking his fourth-straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor meet. Stewart has not competed due to injury since the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays (3/29) when he clocked a 13.51w, the seventh-fastest mark in the nation this season. Stewart was fifth in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2013 NCAA Indoor meet. league title in the 110-meter hurdles. The senior owns school records in both 60 and 110-meter hurdles. He has posted six of the top twelve 110mh times in school history.
- Zack Bilderback has been a pleasant surprise this season. After scoring at the Big 12 Indoor meet in both the 600 yards and 4x400-meter relay, Bilderback claimed third in the 4000 meters at the league outdoor meet. His personal-best time of 46.08 moved him to No. 8 on the West Region list and 17th nationally. He is ranked third in the country among freshmen in the 400m.
- Ryan Dohner is the only athlete in school history to rank in the top five on the performers list of both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Dohner's time of 13:45.25 at the Mt. SAC Relays was bettered only by Jeff Canada's school record 13:44.34 at the 1989 edition of the same meet. Dohner's time of 29:05.11 at the 2012 NCAA Championships (seventh place) ranks No. 5 on the UT performers chart. Dohner was a key figure at the 2013 Big 12 Outdoor meet. He finished third in the 10,000 meters on the opening day of the competition. Then came back less than two days later to finish fourth in the 5,000m, which helped enable the Longhorns to hold off Oklahoma for the victory.
2013 NCAA Division I Track & Field West Preliminary Round Information
May 23-25 - Austin, Texas - Mike A. Myers Stadium
Schedule: Field events start at noon all three days. Running events begin at 4:30 p.m. on both May 23 and 24, and 6 p.m. on May 25. Click here for the complete schedule.
Tickets: All-session tickets are priced at $25 for adult and $15 for youth (17 and under) and seniors. Single-day tickets are also available: $10 for adults and $7 for youth (17 and under) and seniors. Children under 2 years old are admitted free. Click here or call (512) 471-3333 to purchase tickets.
Texas Entrants: Here is the list of Longhorns seeded among the top 48 on the NCAA West Region declaration list. Click here to view the complete list of accepted athletes.
| Event | Seed | Name | Time/Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 400 Meters | 8. | Zack Bilderback | 46.08 |
| 800 Meters | 6. | Kyle Thompson | 1:48.48 |
| 1,500 Meters | 10. | Kyle Merber | 3:41.63 |
| 20. | Patrick McGregor | 3:44.00 | |
| 10,000 Meters | 9. | Ryan Dohner | 29:20.19 |
| 12. | Craig Lutz | 29:22.75 | |
| 22. | Rory Tunningley | 29:30.36 | |
| 110-Meter Hurdles | 4. | Keiron Stewart | 13.51w |
| 17. | Jake Wohlford | 13.95 | |
| 400-Meter Hurdles | 31. | Josh Brudnick | 51.94 |
| 3,000-Meter Steeplechase | 12. | Trevor Van Ackeren | 8:49.74 |
| 20. | Austin Bussing | 8:52.05 | |
| 36. | Austin Roth | 8:56.49 | |
| Pole Vault | 20. | Reese Watson | 17-5.75 (5.31m) |
| 27. | Casey Wicker | 17-2.75 (5.25m) | |
| 29. | Mark Thomas | 17-1 (5.21m) | |
| Triple Jump | 24. | Jarard Bruner | 50-11.50 (15.53m) |
| Shot Put | 1. | Ryan Crouser | 69-2.50 (21.09m) |
| 9. | Will Spence | 61-5 (18.72m) | |
| 10. | Hayden Baillio | 60-4.50 (18.40m) | |
| Discus | 6. | Ryan Crouser | 194-6 (59.28m) |
| 13. | Will Spence | 188-8 (57.52m) | |
| 15. | Clint Harris | 188-4 (57.40m) | |
| 25. | Blake Jakobsson | 182-6 (55.62m) | |
| 36. | Hayden Baillio | 176-11 (53.92m) |
TEXAS ENTRIES - NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY ROUND
Austin, Texas - Mike A. Myers Stadium
Thursday, May 23
- Discus - First Round (Noon): Ryan Crouser, Will Spence, Clint Harris, Blake Jakobsson, Hayden Baillio
- 400-Meter Hurdles - First Round (5 p.m.): Josh Brudnick
- 1,500 Meters - First Round (6:00 p.m.): Kyle Merber, Patrick McGregor
- 400 Meters - First Round (7:45 p.m.): Zack Bilderback
- 800 Meters - First Round (8:35 p.m.): Kyle Thompson
- 10,000 Meters - Semifinal (9:40 p.m.): Ryan Dohner, Craig Lutz, Rory Tunningley
Friday, May 24
- 110-Meter Hurdles - First Round (5:30 p.m.): Keiron Stewart, Jake Wohlford
- Shot Put - First Round (6:00 p.m.): Ryan Crouser, Will Spence, Hayden Baillio
- 400 Meters - Quarterfinal (6:15 p.m.): Zack Bilderback
- 800 Meters - Quarterfinal (7:15 p.m.): Kyle Thompson
- 400-Meter Hurdles - Quarterfinal (7:45 p.m.): Josh Brudnick
- 3,000-Meter Steeplechase - Quarterfinal (9:30 p.m.): Austin Bussing, Trevor Van Ackeren, Austin Roth
Saturday, May 25
- Pole Vault - First Round (1:00 p.m.): Reese Watson, Casey Wicker, Mark Thomas
- Triple Jump - First Round (6:00 p.m.): Jarard Bruner
- 1,500 Meters - Quarterfinal (6:45 p.m.): Kyle Merber, Patrick McGregor
- 110-Meter Hurdles - Quarterfinal (7:20 p.m.): Keiron Stewart, Jake Wohlford