Track & Field heads to Kentucky, UNM

Friday, January 23

Lexington, Ky.

TBA

University of Texas

Rod McCravy Memorial

01.22.2015 | Track & Field / Cross Country

Longhorns take on top teams at two meets

Complete Meet Notes

AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Longhorns split up this week to compete at two meets with the majority of the Longhorns headed to the Rod McCravy Memorial hosted by the Kentucky Wildcats. The pole vaulters and throwers will compete at the Lobo Collegiate Invitational in New Mexico.

Last season, the Rod McCravy Memorial was one of the strongest meets in the nation and this year it is expected to be again. Eight men's and women's teams ranked in the USTFCCCA Top 25 are slated to compete. Both Texas teams are ranked in the top 10. The Longhorns will see No. 1 Florida for the men and women and No. 2/3 Oregon.

Competition at the McCravy Memorial begins Friday morning with combined events. Followed by the start of field events at 2 p.m. CT and running events at 6:20. Saturday's schedule can be seen on the SEC Network. Check your local listings for availability. The broadcast will begin at 11 a.m. Central. A link to the online broadcast will be available at texassports.com.

Action at the Lobo Collegiate Invitational begins at 11 a.m. CT. Texas is slated to compete in the shot put, weight throw and pole vault. Pac-12 powers Arizona and Stanford are among the teams traveling to Albuquerque this weekend.

Fans can follow the action of both meets online with live results provided by branchsportstech.com at Kentucky and liverunningresults.com at UNM. Updates will be available on Twitter by following @UTexasTrack.

Events to Watch
Rod McCravy Memorial
• Sprints: With so many ranked teams competing at this meet, all the sprints events will have a number of the top runners on the track.
• Women's 4x400m Relay: Texas is matched up against Oregon, Florida, Arkansas and host Kentucky its its heat. Oregon out-leaned Texas at the finish line at the NCAA Indoor Championships to break the collegiate record for the event and win the team title by half a point. Florida finished fourth in the event, Arkansas 8th and Kentucky was 12th.
• Men's 4x400m Relay: Texas will see defending champion LSU in its heat along with Arkansas, Florida and Baylor. Qualifiers from last year's championship meet, Oregon and Florida State are slated to run in other heats.
• Men's 3000m: All-American Craig Lutz will be up against NCAA champion Edward Cheserek of Oregon. All-American's Kemoo Campbell of Arkansas and Oregon's Johnny Gregorek also are in the field.Lutz has the No. 2 time in the nation so far this year in the 5000m.

Lobo Collegiate Invitational
• Men's Shot Put: Ryan Crouser swept the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles in this event last year. He is among the favorites to win again in 2015. Arizona boasts No. 18-ranked Aaron Castle. Texas also has Will Spence ranked No. 27 according to USTFCCCA.
• Men's Pole Vault: Reese Watson is No. 13 in the USTFCCCA preseason rankings. The All-American will be up against No. 20 Dylan Duvio of Stanford. Mark Thomas also is ranked No. 24 in the event for Texas.
• Women's Shot Put: Arizona has been highly competitive in this event over the last few years. Baillie Gibson ranks No. 20 according to USTFCCCA.

Texas Track & Field Notebook
Freshmen Throwers Dominate for Texas
• Redshirt freshman Alan Zapalac posted a win in his first competition as a Longhorn. He registered a throw of 18.56 meters (60-10.75) for the victory and ranks as the No. 3 Longhorn in UT history. His throw also is the No. 8 performance of all-time by a Longhorn.
• N'Dia Warren-Jacques and Lauryn Caldwell finished 1-2 in the weight throw at the Arkansas-Texas Dual. The pair then reversed their order and took the top two spots in the shot put.
• Caldwell and Warren-Jacques also rank No. 9 and No. 10 in school history in shot put.

Givans Doubles in Sprints
• Sophomore sprinter Senoj-Jay Givans came away with two upset wins at Arkansas. After winning the 60 meters in a photo finish in 6.70 seconds, he backed that up with a win by just .002 of a second over Arkansas' Jarrion Lawson in the 200 in 21.18.
• Givans' time in the 200 ties his with teammate Zack Bilderback for No. 5 in Texas history and it is the No. 11 time in the nation so far this season.

400m Depth
• The women's team boasts three returning first team All-Americans in the 400m
• Ashley Spencer leads the group as the No. 2-ranked runner and time of 51.54.
• Courtney Okolo is ranked 3rd in the event with an indoor best of 51.56.
• Kendall Baisden is No. 7 according to USTFCCCA after finishing 5th last year.
• Spencer and Okolo represent the last three NCAA outdoor titles in the 400m.

Preseason Expectations
• Texas is among the best of the best heading into the 2015 season. Five teams have their men's and women's teams ranked in the Top 10 of the USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings.
• The Big 12 Conference is well represented in the Top 25 with four men's teams and four women's teams ranked in the preseason.

2015 The Bowerman Watch List
• 3-time NCAA champion Ryan Crouser is on the men's preseason watch list.
• NCAA indoor champ and NCAA record holder Kaitlin Petrillose is on the women's list.

Golden Kendall
• Sophomore Kendall Baisden won two gold medals this summer at the 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships. She won the 400m and ran a leg of the victorious 4x400m relay for Team USA.

Standard Bearers
• Texas currently holds eight collegiate records combined among the men and women. The nearest competitor is Arizona and Colorado with five.