The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Stanford Invitational
Track & Field distance runners head to Stanford Invitational
04.02.2015 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns face deep fields in long distance events
Complete Meet Notes | Heat Sheets & Live Results | Live Video ($)
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AUSTIN, Texas -- After a successful home meet last week, the Texas Track and Field team heads west for the Stanford Invitational. The Longhorns will only be sending a small group of distance runners to compete in what has become one of the top meets early in the outdoor season for the distance events.
The national descending order lists will have numerous entries from the Stanford Invitational after the two days of action at the Cobb Track and Angell Field. Texas will have runners competing on Friday only with the 5,000 and 10,000 meters closing the evening session late. Texas will also have competitors in the steeplechase and 1,500 meters.
The Stanford Invitational has become a premier meet for distance runners over the last few years. Fans can expect to see some of the top runners in the NCAA duke it out on the track for early-season bragging rights. Last year at this meet, Texas tallied a trio of top three finishes.
Fans can watch the action live with a FloPro subscription on FloTrack.org. Action from both days of the meet will be aired online. Live results also will be provided by rtspt.com with links found at TexasSports.com and GoStanford.com. Updates will be available on Twitter as well. Fans can keep up with the action by following @UTexasTrack and @StanfordXCTF.
Action gets underway as early as 11 a.m. Central on Friday in the field events and running events take to the track just before 12:30 p.m. Friday's action will run until after 11 p.m. local time in California with athletes looking to take advantage of cooler night temperatures for the long distance races. Saturday's schedule begins at the same time.
Events to Watch
• Men's & Women's 10,000m: The top long distance runners in the NCAA will be in these races looking to put down fast times early in the season. The men's field includes runners from distance powers Oregon, Iona, Northern Arizona and Oklahoma State. All-American Avery Kate from Iona will be among the top women in the field.
• Women's 5,000m: This field will also be loaded wtih top runners. Last year's 10,000m NCAA champ, Emma Bates will be in this event. She also finished fourth in the 5k at the NCAA meet a year ago.
Texas Track & Field Notebook
Longhorns Both in Top Five
• This week the men and women both hold spots in the Top Five of the USTFCCCA Rankings. The women are No. 3 and the men stand at No. 5.
• The preseason outdoor rankings reflect the best marks from athletes last season.
• Texas is among four 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 women's teams and four men's teams ranked this week. All four of the men's teams are in the top 15 and five of the women's are as well. Texas Tech (10) joins Texas in the men's Top 10 and Baylor's women are No. 10.
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 Post-Indoor watch list.
• NCAA outdoor 400m champ Courtney Okolo is on the women's Post-Indoor watch list.
Akinosun Wins Three Events
Morolake Akinosun put on a show at the Texas Relays as a Longhorn by winning three events. For her efforts the junior was named the Texas Relays Most Outstanding Performer and received her first Big 12 Athlete of the Week Award.
• Ran anchor leg of the 4x100m relay to win with a time of 43.70 seconds
• Won 100m in wind-aided 10.94 seconds. That time would be fast enough to tie the school record but it cannot count toward records because it was wind-aided
• Ran opening leg of 4x400m relay, winning in 3:29.65
• Ran opening leg of 4x200m relay, finishing second in 1:32.53
Freshmen Showing Talent
• Freshmen sprinters Caitland Smith and Shania Collins finished second and third in the 200 meter invitational at the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. Smith crossed the line in 23.35 seconds with Collins right behind her in 23.47.
Crouser Repeats
• Ryan Crouser also shined in his final Texas Relays wearing Burnt Orange. The NCAA champion won the men's shot put for a third consecutive year with his toss of 21.11 meters (69-3.25).
Dohmann Opens Season with Win
• Defending Big 12 Conference champion Fabian Dohmann opened his outdoor season at Texas Relays with a victory in the javelin, throwing 70.86 meters (232-6) on his fifth attempt.
• Dohmann was standing in seventh heading into the final three throws. Evan Karakolis of Rice and Missouri's MaCauley Garton also threw over 230 feet.
Rodriguez Wins in Final Texas Relays
• Senior Eduardo Rodriguez led through much of the men's 5,000 meters and showed guts in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle to win in his final Texas Relays as a Longhorn. He clocked 14:20.53 to defeat post-collegiate runner Austin Bussing
• Fellow senior Megan Siebert also ran well for the women as she finished second in 16:31.82.
Players Mentioned
