The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Track & Field dominates prelims at Big 12 Championship
05.15.2016 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns score big in field events while setting tone on track
Big 12 Championships: May 13-15 | Fort Worth, Texas | Lowdon Track & Field Complex
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FORT WORTH, Texas – Prelim day became positioning day for Texas Track & Field at the Big 12 Conference Championship on Saturday as the Longhorns dominated the running events and advanced runners in bunches to finals in their respective events.
Texas advanced multiple runners in four events on the men's side, plus another event that did not have preliminary heats has two Longhorns already in the final. The women's squad advanced more than one runner in five events, including two with an impressive four finalists.
"We know the men's race is going to be tight with Tech, but the more bullets we have as the day goes on is going to be very important," said Head Coach Mario Sategna. "I feel like we're in a great spot. The weather has cooperated. Our support staff and managers and coaches have all done a great job. This has been a total team effort so far, and I'm excited for tomorrow."
Those "bullets" in the running events will represent huge opportunities for the Longhorns to have major point grabs and attempt to successfully defend their 2015 titles on both sides.
Speaking of point grabs, the Longhorns managed to take advantage of the field events on Saturday as well, scoring in all but one of the five held on Day Two of action, and that's only because Texas did not enter any competitors in the women's long jump.
Texas scored a strong 10 points in the men's long jump with senior Basil Fares helping guide a pair of true freshman into the final. He finished sixth while Steffin McCarter took third and Ika Morton finished eighth. Those 10 points matched Texas Tech in the event to keep pace with the Red Raiders, who the coaches expect to be the men's biggest threat for the title on Sunday.
McCarter leapt 7.65 meters (25-1.25) with Fares flying 7.46 meters (24-5.75) on his final attempt. Morton jumped 7.25 meters (23-9.50) to finish eight.
"The long jump has always traditionally been a great event in our conference, and to have three scorers in that event is impressive," Sategna said. "Coach Kareem has done a great job with that group."
The women's squad saw sophomore Kally Long go head-to-head with Baylor's Annie Rhodes for the title in one of her best performances as a Longhorn before finishing second with a jump of 4.31 meters (14-1.75). Redshirt freshman Ali Uhle tied for sixth to give Texas a total of 10.5 points in the event and help position the team for a big move on Sunday when the running finals begin.
Texas also got a point in the men's and women's shot put competitions from a pair of Longhorns who outperformed their ranking heading into the meet. Derek Fenton and Lauryn Caldwell both were ranked outside the top eight in the conference, but they stepped up to finish eighth and each earn a valuable point toward the team totals.
"I was very proud of Lauryn Caldwell and Derek in the shot to step up and score. Making the final is not only huge for the team, but it's huge for their development and what we have planned for those two," Sategna said.
The Longhorns began Saturday with Reese Thompson finishing second in the decathlon and Ashtin Zamzow taking third in the heptathlon. The combined events specialists completed their two days of action to provide key early points in the team scoring. Thompson registered a decathlon score of 7,015 points and earned eight team points while Zamzow tallied 5,215 points in the heptathlon. She got six points for the team scoring by finishing third.
Action begins at 11 a.m. Sunday for the final day of the Big 12 Conference Championship from Lowdon Track & Field Complex with the women's discus. The Longhorns will look to take advantage of its depth after advancing 18 runners through preliminaries to finals for the women and 13 for the men and successfully defend their titles from 2015. Texas also will have entries in the finals for the 5,000 meters and 3,000 meter steeplechase, in addition to the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Fans can follow along with live results provided by DeltaTiming.com. Updates on the Longhorns will be on the team's official Twitter account @UTexasTrack. Fans also are encouraged to follow and interact with the meet by using the official meet hashtag #Big12TF.
Sunday's running action will also be streamed live online via FOX Sports Go. Fans can watch the exciting conclusion of the Big 12 Conference Championship at 4:25 p.m. online at foxsportsgo.com or via the FOX Sports Go app on their smartphone or tablet.
Sprinters Dominate Preliminaries
Texas showed it will be poised to score in bunches on Sunday in the sprint events. The women set the tone in the 100 meter hurdles with all four entries advancing.
Ariel Jones ran her fastest time of the season, clocking a wind-aided 13.14 seconds to post the No. 2 time in prelims. Ashley Miller was right next to her at 13.18 in their heat for another seasonal best time. Mariam Abdul-Rashid ran 13.36 and Mobolaji Adeokun clocked 13.39 to position Texas for big points in the event.
The women advanced three runners to the final in the 400 meters while the men also moved three into the championship race.
Senior Courtney Okolo ran her first 400 meters since breaking the collegiate record in April. She easily won her heat as did junior Chrisann Gordon. Freshman Zola Golden ran her fastest time of the year to give Texas the top three times in the prelims.
Texas eyes only its second men's Big 12 title in the 400 and increased its chances with three advancing to the final. Aldrich Bailey Jr. and Zack Bilderback posted the No. 3 and No. 4 times in prelims at 46.40 and 46.54, respectively. Carlton Anumnu also moved into the final at 46.98.
"Courtney made a 51-point time look about as easy as you can and it was great to see a seasonal best from Zola," Sategna said. "The guys getting three through, those are all going to be valuable points going into tomorrow."
Hurdlers continued to dominate the meet for Texas with four women also advancing to the final in the 400 meter hurdles. Jones continued to show she is one of the nation's best in the event clocking 58.17 and winning her heat easily. Senior Melissa Gonzalez also won her heat handily in 59.33. Abdul-Rashid grabbed an automatic spot in the final and Sydne Fowler got one of two at-large spots based on time to make it a perfect 4-for-4 in advancing to the final.
For the men in the 400 hurdles, Byron Robinson cruised to a win in his heat. As the No. 1 runner in the NCAA this season, Sategna said Robinson looked in control and effortless.
"I would say tonight's performance by Byron was a lot like watching Courtney in the 400," Sategna said. "A lot of things can happen over 10 barriers but he handled his own and I know he's looking to do something special tomorrow in that final."
Former Big 12 champs looked good for the Longhorns in the short sprints as well.
Senoj-Jay Givans won his heats in both the 100 and 200 by far and looked good doing it according to Sategna. With his impressive running it sets up what will be one of the most highly anticipated races in the nation this weekend as he takes on NCAA indoor champ in the 60 meters Ronnie Baker of TCU and Oklahoma State's John Teeters.
"Senoj-Jay really looked sharp. With Ronnie Baker here on his home track, it's going to be an exciting showdown tomorrow in the 100 meter final," Sategna said.
Senior Morolake Akinosun ran the top time in prelims in the 100 meters at 11.35 seconds. She is looking to become the first woman to ever win three straight Big 12 titles in that event. She will be joined by teammates Caitland Smith and Teahna Daniels in the final. Smith and Akinosun also qualified in the 200 along with Okolo.
The men's 200 meters saw Givans dominate his heat again in 21.19, but it was Bailey who posted the top time at 20.59 seconds. Bilderback advanced along with Charles Anumnu, who will also run with Givans in the 100 final.
With the 200 meters serving as one of the final events of the meet, Sategna said advancing so many through in that event will be a good boost in scoring for the Longhorns heading into the last two events of the meet, the 5,000 meters and 4x400 relay.
Sprinters running well but not advancing were Chris Irvin, who finished 13th in the 400 meters, and Carlton Anumnu finished 12th in the 200. For the women, Raquel Tjernagel was 24th in the 400 meters and Golden was 16th in the 200.
Thompson, Zamzow Score Big in Combined Events
Reese Thompson had another strong showing in only the second decathlon of his career to finish in second place at his first Big 12 Conference Outdoor Championship. He finished the 10 events with a total of 7,015 points to finish in second place behind Iowa State's Taylor Sanderson at 7,204.
Thompson stood in fourth place heading into today's final five events and immediately began to climb the standings. He finished second in the 110 meter hurdles behind Sanderson to move up to third place after the sixth event. He then moved closer to second place following a personal record in the discus.
The pole vault is one of Thompson's better events in the decathlon and he took advantage of it by clearing 4.70 meters (15-5.00) to score 819 points. He missed tying his PR of 4.80 meters and finished third in the competition and moved into second place overall following the event. After the javelin, he remained in second place going into the final event and managed to not allow any of the competition to outscore him enough in the 1,500 meters to overtake him in their point totals.
"Reese Thompson came up huge and got second place. He had a better score at Texas Relays, but I think it's not so much about the times and performances," Sategna said. "This is the conference meet. It's about solidifying points for your team and he stepped up in a big way and proved that we will be able to carry on the strong tradition in the decathlon we have here for some time to come."
Ashtin Zamzow was attempting to become the first Longhorn to win the women's heptathlon at the Big 12 Championship this weekend, but she came up just short in third place. Zamzow entered the final day of the two-day competition in fourth place and used a strong showing in the javelin to move up the standings.
Heading into the final event, she trailed the leader by 158 points and was only two points behind second place. She was unable to beat either in the 800 meters and ended the competition with 5,215 points to finish in third place and earn six points toward the team scoring.
Long, Uhle Step Up in Pole Vault
Sophomore Kally Long had her most impressive performance as a Longhorn to finish second in the women's pole vault on Saturday evening. Long cleared 4.31 meters (14-1.75), which was a centimeter off her personal best, and battled with one of the nation's top vaulters in the process.
Baylor's Annie Rhodes got the win with a first attempt clearance at 4.36 meters to reclaim the lead from Long after she had soared over the bar at 4.31 on her first attempt. Rhodes needed three attempts to clear 4.31. Long's performance was impressive in that it was the first time she was over 4.31 meters without any prior misses in the competition. She was clean over the first four bars she attempted, which put her in the driver's seat before Rhodes cleared 4.36.
Redshirt freshman Ali Uhle joined Long on the podium with a tie for sixth place at 4.06 meters (13-3.75). Uhle was one of four vaulters eliminated while attempting 4.21 meters and misses at previous heights put her at sixth.
Anne Harwig had her best mark of the season as well, clearing 3.91 meters (12-10.00) to finish 12. Calie Spencer was 13th at 3.76 meters (12-4.00).
Mid-Distance Crew Makes Impact
The sprinters were not the only Longhorns to come up big on the track Saturday during prelims. A freshman and senior set the tone for the rest of the night's action in the first running event of the day.
Alex Rogers pulled away over the final 150 meters of his heat in the 1,500 meters to give the freshman the No. 4 time in prelims. He clocked 3:44.79. Senior Brady Turnbull was not going to miss the final in his last Big 12 Championship meet as a Longhorn. He ran 3:47.12 to finish second in his heat and grab an automatic berth to the final.
Later, Mary Beth Hamilton would take advantage of being in the first heat and setting the pace in the 800 meters. She finished third in her heat, just outside of an automatic spot, but she clocked 2:07.51 to get the first qualifying spot based on time. Then, in the men's 800, Robert Uhr used his patented late kick to come from behind and win his heat to move on.
"Mary Beth getting through was great because those points are not just going to be huge for us, but she's going to put herself in position in the West Region to vie for a spot at national championships in Eugene," Sategna said. "Robert Uhr steps up in meets like this and rises to the occasion. He caught those guys off guard and won his heat."
Freshman Gabby Crank also ran the 800 meters and finished 16th and Derrell Manhertz was 18th in the men's prelims. Katie Burford took 13th in the women's 1,500 meters and Jake McConnell was 18th for the men.
Players Mentioned
