The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
89th Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays
Track & Field hosts Top 5 teams for Texas Invitational
04.14.2016 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns face teams from SEC, Big Ten, more on Saturday
Complete Meet Notes | Meet Schedule | Live Results
Heat Sheets | Twitter: Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – Following a week off the Texas Track & Field team will host the Texas Invitational that will pit the Longhorns up against a handful of ranked teams. The Longhorns will face teams from the SEC, Big Ten and the Big 12 in a team scored meet to see who is the best on Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Action begins at 9 a.m. with field events and running events are slated to toe the line at 9:15 a.m.
The field at the Texas Invitational is loaded with NCAA champion caliber athletes and teams. Three teams are ranked in the Top 10 on both the men's and women's side, giving the Longhorns an early taste of what could await them at the Big 12 and NCAA Championship meets later this season.
Admission to the meet is free. Live results from the meet will be provided online via PrimeTimeTiming.com. Fans can also get updates on the events through social media by following the team's official Twitter feed @UTexasTrack. Fans can interact and follow the meet by using the official meet hashtag #TXinvite16.
Events to Watch
• Men's 100m: TCU's Ronnie Baker has the fastest time in the nation this year at 9.95 seconds. Senoj-Jay Givans ranks No. 3 at 10.08. The two have gone head-to-head twice already in this potential Big 12 and NCAA Championship preview.
• Women's Pole Vault: This event could be a preview of the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials with seven of the Top 15 vaulters in action. Sophomore Kally Long ranks No. 13 and leads a group of Longhorns against some of the best of the best. Defending NCAA Champion Demi Payne of SFA is slated to compete as well as 2014 USATF Indoor champ Mary Saxer.
• Men's 400m Hurdles: Byron Robinson ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this season and highlights a loaded field. A total of 7 from the Top 20 in this event are slated to compete, including No. 5 and No. 8 from UTSA.
• Women's 200m: Again Morolake Akinosun will face elite competition. She ranks No. 8 this season and the field could have up to as many as six of the Top 18 runners in the nation, including No. Taylor Ellis-Watson of Arkansas.
• Men's 4x100m Relay: This meet will be a true preview of the NCAA Championships with No. 2 TCU, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 LSU and No. 7 Iowa in action on the men's side.
• Men's 4x400m Relay: LSU and Texas went toe-to-toe at the Texas Relays two weeks ago. The Tigers and Longhorns rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation this year. Could it be another exciting finish for the men's 4x400?
• Women's 100m: Senior Morolake Akinosun leads the nation with her time of 11.07. She will face a trio of LSU Tigers that rank in the Top 15.
• Women's 100m Hurdles: Eight of the Top 25 runners in this event could potentially be in the field, including No. 3 Chanice Chase of LSU.
• Women's 400m Hurdles: Sophomore Ariel Jones leads a group of three ranked No. 9 or better in this field and only .15 separates their times.
Texas Track & Field Notebook
Longhorns Both in Top 10 Nationally
• Texas is among the favorites to win NCAA Championships again in 2016 on both sides. The Longhorns rank No. 4 for the men and the women are No. 7 in the latest USTFCCCA Outdoor Rankings.
• The men finished the indoor season in fifth place at the NCAA Championships with 25 points.
• The women finished fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a total of 44 points.
• Last year outdoors the men finished seventh with 26 points and the women were ninth with 28 points.
• The Big 12 Conference has three other men's teams ranked with Texas: Texas Tech (12), Oklahoma State (19) and TCU (24). The league also has a total of five women's ranked in the Top 25: Kansas State (10), Baylor (15), Oklahoma (16) and Oklahoma State (23).
Akinosun Makes History at Texas Relays
• Senior Morolake Akinosun became the first woman to ever win the 100 meters at the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays three straight years. Her time of 11.07 seconds also leads the NCAA so far this year and is nearly .25 faster than her best non-wind-aided time from last year.
• Akinosun is only the second woman to win the 100m at the Texas Relays three times total.
• She also ran on the victorious 4x400m relay squad and helped Texas finish second in the 4x200 and eighth in the 4x100.
• For her efforts at the Texas Relays she was named Big 12 Athlete of the Week, making it three consecutive awards for the women's team to open the outdoor season.
Men's 4x400 Shatters 33-Year Old Record
• The men's 4x400 team of Chris Irvin, Byron Robinson, AJ Bailey and Zack Bilderback has been rewriting the record books all year for the Longhorns. The group broke the indoor school record twice this year and destroyed the outdoor record in front of the home crowd during Texas Relays.
• The Longhorns ran 3:02.18 to best the previous record of 3:03.33 set back in 1983.
• Texas finished second to LSU at the Texas Relays as the Tigers ran 3:01.83 and the two teams traded the lead multiple times throughout the race.
• The time ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this season as well with No. 3 more than a second behind the Longhorns.
Zamzow Debuts atop Record Book
• Sophomore transfer Ashtin Zamzow broke the school record in her first opportunity as a Longhorn. The heptathlete, and former Texas A&M Aggie, shattered the school record in the heptathlon with a total of 5,829 points over the seven events to finish in fourth place at the Texas Relays.
• Zamzow finished behind a trio of All-Americans from Arkansas and her score almost guarantees her a spot at the NCAA Championships with the top 24 heptathlon scores qualifying.
• Zamzow posted personal records in all three events held on Day 2 as she dominated the field in the javelin. Those three PR's helped her destroy the previous school record of 5,576 points set back in 1989 by Natalie Lew.
• The score ranks Zamzow at No. 6 in the NCAA so far this season and is almost a lock to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Last year her score would have ranked 10th heading into the NCAA meet.
• The heptathlon also is a family business for Zamzow. Her sister Avery is a redshirt sophomore at Sam Houston State. Avery Zamzow finished 21st at Texas Relays with a score of 4,895. Their mother Kalleen was an All-American in the heptathlon at Texas A&M and posted a career-best score of 5,642 points at the 1993 SWC Championship. Father Stacy was a national champion in the 4x400 meter relay for the Aggies as well.
Longhorns Stack Up Wins at Texas Relays
• The Longhorns grabbed six victories at the 89th Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays over the four days of action.
• Victories came in: 100m - Morolake Akinosun (11.07); Triple Jump A - Asa Garcia (13.29m); 400m Hurdles - Ariel Jones (57.17); 400m Hurdles Invitational - Byron Robinson (50.48); Shot Put B - N'Dia Warren-Jacques (15.09m); Sanya Richards-Ross 4x400 (3:26.54)
• Garcia's mark was wind-aided and ranked No. 1 in the NCAA at the time. It still stands at No. 2, trailing South Dakota State's Jazzelena Black by 6cm.
• Akinosun's time in the 100m leads the NCAA by .06 and is currently the world-leading time as well.
Players Mentioned
