Longhorns eyeing NCAA Indoor Championships

Friday, March 13

Fayetteville, Ark.

10 a.m.

University of Texas

NCAA Indoor Championships

03.11.2015 | Track & Field / Cross Country

Texas Track & Field in contention for titles in Arkansas

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track and Field hopes to bring home some hardware this weekend from the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Longhorns enter the championship meet ranked No. 5 for both the men and women. After finishing second by just half a point last year, the women's team is eyeing another push for the title while the men also are in contention.

The women have nine entries in the meet and the men have eight to rank among the national leaders. If both teams can maintain or outperform their current ranking, it would mark the first time since 2008 the men and women finished in the top five at the indoor championship meet. The last time both teams finished in the Top 10 was 2012.

Action gets underway on Friday at 10 a.m. with the beginning of the men's heptathlon. Sophomore Wolf Mahler will open the meet for the Longhorns in the event, where he ranks No. 8 after winning the Big 12 title two weeks ago in Ames, Iowa. Field events start at 4 p.m. Friday with running events toeing the line at 6 p.m. Saturday's schedule starts at 10:45 a.m. Running events begin at 6 p.m. again and the first field event of the day is at 3:30 p.m.

The teams in contention for the team titles come mostly from the SEC and Big 12 Conference. The SEC boasts five Top 10 teams on the men's and women's side. The Big 12 has three women's teams in the Top 10. Oregon also is among the favorites after sweeping the championships last year. The Oregon men rank No. 2 entering the meet and the women are No. 6, one spot behind Texas. The Longhorns and rest of the NCAA look to stop Oregon's run of five straight women's indoor titles.

Sprints will be a key area for the women with the Longhorns boasting some of the nation's top runners in their respective events. Texas has six entries in the sprints, plus the 4x400 relay. The men have a balanced team at the meet with four running events and four field events.

Fans can watch the action live on ESPN3.com with a live webcast both days beginning at 6 p.m. Live results will be provided at flashresults.com with live field event capabilities. Updates will be available on Twitter by following the handles @UTexasTrack and @NCAA. Fans also are encouraged to follow and interact with the meet by using the hashtag #NCAAD1TF. ESPNU also will air the meet tape delayed at 6:30 p.m. March 22.

Events to Watch
Women's 4x400m: Last year the team championship came down to the final event of the meet. Oregon and Texas both ran times faster than the previous collegiate record, but the Ducks outleaned the Longhorns by .02. That finish gave Oregon the team title by just half a point over Texas. Could this year produce similar drama?

Women's Pole Vault: Kaitlin Petrillose broke the collegiate record last year to win her first NCAA title for the Longhorns. Her record has since been broken by 2 different women this year. With 3 women in the field who have all held the collegiate record, this will be an event with much anticipation and attention.

Women's 400m: Texas ranks 2-4-8 in the NCAA in this event and represents the last 3 outdoor champions in the 400. Can Courtney Okolo or Ashley Spencer win their first indoor title? Or sophomore and World Junior Champion Kendall Baisden? With 3 entires, the Longhorns could score huge points and make a major impact on the team standings here.

Men's 5000m: Craig Lutz ranks No. 5 in the event coming in with his time of 13:40.30. Less than 2 seconds are between he and No. 2, not much of a gap for a long distance race. Big points could be earned here for the men in an event Texas has not had an All-American in since 2003.

Women's 5000m: Sandie Raines looks to give the Longhorns a boost in the women's distance events. The sophomore transfer ranks No. 7 in the event and is less than half a second seperate No. 6 from No. 8. After not having a distance runner last year at the meet, any potential points Raines can score could have heavy implications for the team standings.

Men's Shot Put: Ryan Crouser goes for the repeat. The redshirt junior has won 3 straight NCAA titles when counting his back-to-back outdoor crowns. He leads the field by more than half a meter this year and currently ranks No. 3 in the world.

Women's 60m Hurdles: Hundredths of a second divide No. 2 down to No. 7 on the descending order list. Longhorn Morgan Snow stands at No. 4 with a time of 8.07 seconds. Texas has not had a women's hurdle champion indoors since 1998, the last year of the 55 meter hurdles.

Men's 60m: Senoj-Jay Givans pulled off the upset at the Big 12 Conference Championships to repeat in the 60 meters. He defeated the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 runners in John Teeters of Oklahoma State and Baylor's Tayvon Bromell. Givans won by just .003 of a second over TCU's Ronnie Baker, the No. 5 runner. After wowing the crowd at the Big 12 meet, the NCAA Championships could provide more fireworks with such a tightly bunched field.

Men's 3000m: Although no Longhorns are in the field, the men's 3000m could prove to be key in the team scoring and championship race as Oregon has 5 entries for a potential point grab. Arkansas also has 2 runners highly ranked in the event.

Texas Track & Field Notebook
Longhorns Both in Top Five
• This week the men and women both held their spots in the Top Five of the USTFCCCA Rankings.
• The rankings this week only reflect athletes competing at the NCAA Championships.
• Texas is among three schools that have their men and women ranked in the Top Five.
• The Big 12 Conference is well represented in the Top 25 with six men's teams and four women's teams ranked this week. Three of the women's teams are No. 9 or better. Texas Tech (10) joins Texas in the men's Top 10 with Oklahoma State (13) and TCU (15) just outside.

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

2015 The Bowerman Watch List
The most prestigious award in collegiate track and field, The Bowerman, is awarded by the USTFCCCA annually to the top male and female track and field star annually. Since its inception in 2009, the winners combined to win three Olympic medals in 2012.
• 3-time NCAA champion Ryan Crouser is on the men's March watch list.
• NCAA outdoor 400m champ Courtney Okolo is on the women's March watch list.

Longhorns Earn USTFCCCA Honors
The USTFCCCA recently handed out its regional awards for the indoor season. Texas claimed three South Central Region honors.
• Head Coach Mario Sategna was named Men's Head Coach of the Year
• Associate Head Coach Tonja Buford-Bailey earned Women's Assistant Coach of the Year
• Ryan Crouser was named Men's Field Athlete of the Year

Texas Sweeps Big 12 Championships
• For the first time since 2006, the Texas Longhorns won both the men's and women's Big 12 titles.
• The men dominated the field scoring 140 points and winning 45.5 over Oklahoma State.
• The women held off a charge from Kansas State to win by 6.5 points. The Wildcats and Longhorns traded to the overall lead multiple times over the final few events with the 4x400 deciding the overall winning.
• Texas won nine event titles, including a sweep of the 60m and 400m.

Givans Repeats in 60m
• Senoj-Jay Givans successfully defending his Big 12 title in the 60 meters by out-leaning three of the fastest runners in the NCAA.
• His time of 6.89 was narrowed down to 6.585 to best Ronnie Baker's time of 6.858 from TCU.
• Givans is only the second athlete to repeat as men's 60m Big 12 champ.

Crouser Breaks Big 12 Record
• Ryan Crouser won the men's shot put and did so by breaking the Big 12 Championship meet record and Leid Recreation Center facility record on his third attempt.
• Crouser improved on his NCAA lead with a mark of 21.14 meters (69-4.25).
• His mark currently ranks No. 3 in the world

Fares Leaps into Contention
• Long jumper Basil Fares posted a new personal best mark to win the Tyson Invitational.
• His jump of 7.79 meters (25-6.75) was tops in the Big 12 at the time and moved him into the top 10 in the nation this year.
• He currently ranks No. 11 heading into the NCAA Championships
• Fares also finished sixth in the triple jump at the Big 12 meet with a personal best 14.11 meters (46-6.25) to continue his stellar season.

Raines Moves Up in 5000m
• Sandie Raines ran No. 2 time in school history at the Husky Classic (Feb. 14). Her time of 15:50.49 was less than half a second from breaking the record in the 5000m.
• She enters the NCAA Championships ranked No. 7 in the event.
• Raines finished third against an NCAA Championship caliber field as well and now ranks eighth in the nation this season.
• She made a significant impact at the Big 12 Championship, scoring 5 points in the 3000m and running a leg of the DMR that finished third to score 6 points.

400m Depth
• The women's team boasts three returning first team All-Americans in the 400m
• The Longhorns displayed that depth finishing 1-2-4 at the Big 12 meet to score 23 points.
• Courtney Okolo is currently No. 2 in the NCAA at 51.46 seconds.
• Kendall Baisden is No. 3, clocking in at 51.81 seconds to win at the Rod McCravy Memorial.
• Ashley Spencer's time of 52.27 seconds ranks 8th in the NCAA this season.
• Spencer and Okolo represent the last three NCAA outdoor titles in the 400m.

Lutz Breaks School Record in 5000m
• Craig Lutz was up against stiff competition at the Husky Classic two weeks ago and ran his way to a new school record 13:40.30 and finished third.
• His time ranks him No. 5 in the field at the NCAA Championships this weekend.
• He will attempt to become the first All-American in the event for the Texas men since 2003.

Akinosun Scores Big for Texas
• Sprinter Morolake Akinosun scored 20.5 points at the Big 12 Championships
• Akinosun defended her 60m title with a time of 7.23 seconds, finished 2nd in the 200m and ran a leg of the winning 4x400m relay team.
• She will run all 3 events this weekend at the NCAA Championships.
• Akinosun is No. 7 in the 60m and bested a field loaded with national caliber athletes earlier this season at the Rod McCravy Memorial with a meet record 7.22.

Bilderback Breaks Record
• Zack Bilderback successfully defended his Big 12 crown in the 400m two weeks ago.
• Earlier this year Bilderback crossed the line in 45.95 seconds to finish third at the Tyson Invitational while breaking his own school record of 46.03 set last year.
• He looks to earn first-time All-America status again this year and ranks No. 10.

Snow Running Hot
• In a field stacked with elite hurdlers, Morgan Snow finished second at Tyson Invitational with a new personal best time of 8.07 seconds in the 60m hurdles.
• Her time of 8.07 seconds also stands No. 4 in the NCAA this season.
• Snow repeated as Big 12 champ with a time of 8.10.

Mahler Rolls to Win in Heptathlon
• Wolf Mahler put together two days' worth of action and personal bests to win his first conference title in the heptathlon with 5,717 points over the seventh events.
• Mahler won by 238 points and tallied personal bests in 6 of the 7 events.
• This weekend he will look to continue Texas' strong tradition in multi-events as he ranks No. 7 heading into the NCAA Championships.

Petrillose, Watson Soaring High
• Defending champion Kaitlin Petrillose enters the NCAA meet at No. 3 in the pole vault.
• Reese Watson is No. 8 for the men and has posted a PR three times this season.
• Petrillose repeated as Big 12 champion with a season-best of 4.39 meters (14-4.75)
• Watson finished 2nd in a close battle at 5.38m (17-7.75).
• Watson has a season-best of 5.51m (18-1.00) from the Lobo Collegiate Open in January.