Men, Women Finish Sixth at NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

Saturday, March 14

Fayetteville, Ark.

11:30 a.m.

University of Texas

NCAA Indoor Championships

Men, Women Finish Sixth at NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

03.14.2015 | Track & Field / Cross Country

Women’s 4x400 relay posts No. 5 time in NCAA history

Results: Complete (PDF) | Men's Day Two (HTML) | Women's Day Two HTML | Team Scores HTML
Texas Post-Meet Notes | Live Results

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.– The Track and Field team left the Randal Tyson Track Center Saturday with some amazing performances, including two national titles. Courtney Okolo claimed her first indoor title in the 400 meters and the Longhorns also captured the women's 4x400 meter relay.

The Texas women finished in sixth place with 33 points at the two-day NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships thanks to strong showings from the sprinters. The men's squad scored 25 points to come also come in sixth.

"Obviously the goal coming in at a minimum was to be in the top four on both ends to bring home one of the team trophies," said Head Coach Mario Sategna. "At the end of the day you're looking at what the possibilities might be and what we need to do to possibly win a championship.

We didn't get off to the right start yesterday and today we had some setbacks. With all that being said we had some huge pluses."

In addition to Okolo in the 400, Ashley Spencer joined her on the podium in third place with her fastest time of the season.

Okolo and Spencer then teamed up with Morolake Akinosun and Kendall Baisden to win in the 4x400 meter relay. The Horns crossed in 3:28.48 to post the No. 5 time in collegiate history.

Morgan Snow also finished third in the 60 meter hurdles to score six points for the Longhorns.

For the men, Ryan Crouser took second in the shot put as he was unable to defend his title. Crouser had won the last three national shot put competitions.

The sprinters also showed up for the men with Senoj-Jay Givans running 6.58 seconds to take fourth in the 60 meters and Zack Bilderback finished sixth in the 400.

The men's 4x400 ran a new school record finishing in third place with a time of 3:06.56 after LSU was disqualified in third. The tandem of Byron Robinson, Senoj-Jay Givans, Chris Irvin and Bilderback narrowly missed the record earlier this year in Arkansas at the Tyson Invitational. This time they cut it by .07 of a second.

Sophomore Wolf Mahler opened the day well for the Longhorns as he climbed his way up the standings after each of the final three events of the heptathlon to take sixth place. Mahler scored a personal best 5,747 points thanks to a PR in the 60 meter hurdles and 1,000 meters.

His three points for the team scoring helped solidify Texas as the program with the most points scored in the event in NCAA history.

"We're going to build upon this. We're going to sit down as a staff and look at ways that we can all be better," Sategna said. "My hat goes off to all the support that we've had up to this point for our season. I do feel like we're going to be much better on both sides outdoors.

"We're in a good spot, but ultimately we want to win. That's why we're at The University of Texas. It's important that we get these athletes back and get them rested. Our outdoor season starts next week."

Women's 4x400 Among Fastest Ever
The tandem of Morolake Akinosun, Ashley Spencer, Kendall Baisden and Courtney Okolo had aspirations of reclaiming the collegiate record in the women's 4x400 meter relay for the Longhorns this year. That goal came just short, but the team ran to a victory in 3:28.48.

That time ranks fifth in collegiate history. Oregon took the 4x400 record away from Texas at the NCAA Championships last year with a time of 3:27.40.

"The women came in as the favorite, but that really is off the board at this point. Some of those teams in the other sections put up some great times. You knew it was going to be a battle, especially with Arkansas. Our women did a great job to fight that off and bring home the relay championship," Sategna said.

Okolo, Spencer Dominate 400m
Courtney Okolo won her first indoor title in the 400 meters with her blazing time of 51.12 seconds. She was closely followed by teammate Ashley Spencer in third place with a time of 51.85.

The Longhorns took advantage of having experienced runners in the event as they grabbed 16 points for the team standings.

Okolo's win marks the fourth indoor 400 NCAA title for the Texas women.

"Ashley won her section, ran a seasonal best, so that was huge for her. And then in the next heat Courtney comes through and wins it overall. I can't say enough about that having an individual national championship under her belt once again. I think it's going to be huge for both of them moving to the outdoor season."

Crouser Second in Shot Put
Defending champion Ryan Crouser could not make it back-to-back in the shot put indoors as he took second place with a toss of 20.93 meters (68-8.00). He was bested by Florida's Stipe Zunic in Round 5 of throws with a throw of 21.11 meters (69-3.25).

Crouser was at 20.90 meters when Zunic passed him but could not match the effort with a foul and then his best throw of 20.93 on his final attempt.

"Crouser will learn from this experience. Like I've said before, sometimes he's his own toughest critic. I think anybody in any other event area, being an All-American, being in the top eight and scoring points for their team, or even placing as the runner-up would be thrilled," Sategna said. "Obviously, when he steps out there he expects to win. We love that passion and we love that drive. Really, that's why our program on the men's side is built around people like Crouser. He'll learn from this experience. He'll turn it into a positive and he'll be even better outdoors because of it."

Snow Takes Bronze
Morgan Snow backed up her impressive showing in the prelims in the 60 meter hurdles with the same time to finish third and grab six valuable points for the team. Snow ran 8.07 seconds and trailed Kendra Harrison of Kentucky and Florida's Bridgette Owens, who ran to a photo finish of 7.87 and 7.88 seconds, respectively.

Snow, a senior, scores points in the event for the second time in her career after finishing eighth her sophomore year.

"Morgan Snow stepped up like a senior should and battled all the way to finish in third place," Sategna said.

Givans Closes Successful Indoor Season in 4^th Place
Senoj-Jay Givans took fourth place for the Longhorns in the men's 60 meters as he ran 6.58 seconds, just .01 off his school record set on Friday night during prelims. He scores points for the Longhorns for the first time in his career after coming just short of making the final in the 100 meters outdoors last year.

Givans closes an impressive sophomore season indoors. He successfully defended his Big 12 title against three of the top five sprinters in the nation in the 60 meters. He then broke the school record during prelims of the NCAA Championships, and nearly tied that mark during the final.

Mahler Climbs to Sixth Place-Finish
Wolf Mahler opened Day 2 of the heptathlon the same way he did his Big 12 Conference Championship performance, with a personal record in the 60 meter hurdles. Mahler tied his mark from the conference meet at 8.31 seconds to move up into ninth place overall in the standings through five events.

He rode that momentum to through the final two events and would finish in sixth place and earn three points toward the team scoring with his total of 5,747 points over the seven events.

"It's really exciting. I've always thought of myself as more of a decathlete and to be top six in the nation as a heptathlete is a great feeling for me and gives me a lot of confidence going into the outdoor season," Mahler said. "The last day is always my day. It's kind of like a strong kick. I knew it was going to be a great competition. It came to hundredths of a point and 10's and even two points there at the very end. It's just so great to be a part of this competition."

Mahler could not repeat his PR performance in the pole vault but managed to clear 4.95 meters (16-2.75) for the No. 2 mark in the competition. He passed at 5.05 meters to attempt a new PR of 5.15 and missed his three opportunities.

Going into the final event, Mahler trailed the fifth place competitor by 198 points. With approximately a 10-point differential per second in the 1,000 meters, Mahler was looking to leave the competition behind holding the fastest PR in the field.

Mahler ran a personal best in the 1,000 meters to move ahead of Michigan's Steven Bastien and Michigan State's Tim Herhardt to finish sixth overall and earn three team points. The overall competition was very tight as well with Minnesota's Luca Wieland and Georgia's Garrett Scantling battling it out. Wieland led Scantling by only 10 points going into the final event and won the NCAA title by the closest marking in history, just two points.

Mahler's score of 5,747 points holds his place at No. 6 in school history and puts him just one point behind Isaac Murphy.

Bilderback Takes Sixth in 400
Zack Bilderback broke his own school record earlier this year on the track at Arkansas, and on Saturday he added an All-America performance to his 2015 resume. Bilderback finished sixth in the men's 400 meters with a time of 46.49 seconds to earn three points for the men's team.

Bilderback was unable to break his record again, but he will earn All-America honors when those awards are announced next week for the second straight year.