The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas A&M Team Invitational
Track & Field opens indoor season at A&M
01.12.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns face regional teams at Texas A&M Team Invitational
Texas A&M Team Invitational
Jan 13-14, 2016 | Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium
Twitter: @UTexasTrack
Live Results | Live Video (SEC Network +)
Other Teams Competing: Abilene Christian, Baylor, Stephen F. Austin, Texas State, UT Arlington, UTSA, Texas A&M
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field opens its 2017 indoor season this weekend as the Longhorns head to the Texas A&M Team Invitational. After nine current and former Longhorns combined to have the most successful Olympic Games in program history, Texas is looking to ride momentum from Rio into the season and bring more trophies and accolades to The Forty Acres this year.
The women's team enters the season ranked No. 5 in the nation according to the USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings. Last year the Texas women finished fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championship and hope to improve on that this year. The men's team stands at No. 7 in the preseason rankings after finishing fifth during the indoor campaign last year.
Action at the Texas A&M Team Invitational starts Friday night with two distance events. The distance medley relay is set to run at 4:25 p.m. with the 5,000 meters to follow. The rest of the meet's events are slated for Saturday beginning at noon from the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station.
Texas will be taking on a number of regional schools at the meet on Saturday. Including the host Texas A&M Aggies, other teams competing are: Abilene Christian, Baylor, Stephen F. Austin, Texas State, UTA and UTSA. The meet will be scored using the current championship scoring format.
Tickets to the meet range from $4 for general admission to $12 for reserved seating and can be purchased online at 12thman.com or at the stadium ticket office.
Fans unable to attend the meet can keep up with the action online with live video and results. The meet will be streamed via SEC Network +. Subscribers to the SEC Network cable channel can watch the meet online by using espn3.com or the Watch ESPN app for their smartphone or tablet. The stream is set to begin at 1:55 p.m. Saturday. Live results from the meet also will be provided by FlashResults.com. Fans can get updates on the Longhorns from the team's official Twitter account @UTexasTrack.
Events to Watch
• Women's 60m: Sophomore Teahna Daniels became the first freshman to win the NCAA title in the 60m last season. She clocked an American Junior record time of 7.11 seconds. She could face Baylor's Taylor Bennett, who finished 14th as a freshman last year at NCAA's.
• Women's 60m Hurdles: Freshmen Rushelle Burton is set to make her debut as a Longhorn. She won silver for Jamaica this summer at the IAAF World Junior Championships in the 100m hurdles. She along with fellow freshman Alexis Duncan, who finished 4th at World Juniors for Team USA, give Texas great depth and talent in this event for 2017 with junior Ariel Jones and sophomore Mariam Abdul-Rashid ready to roll.
• Men's 60m Hurdles: Junior Spencer Dunkerley-Offor returns after redshirting in 2016. The Big 12 runner-up and first team All-American is joined by a pair of freshman that will give Texas a big scoring opportunity in the 60m and 110m hurdles this year. Freshmen Isaiah Lucas and Medric Roberson were each highly touted recruits out of high school and ranked in the top five in the nation in their events.
• Women's Shot Put: Freshman Elena Bruckner makes her debut for the Longhorns after an exciting summer. The lefty qualified for U.S. Olympic Trials in the discus, finishing 16th. She also finished 7th in the shot put at the IAAF World Junior Championships. She ranks No. 3 all-time in the U.S. in high school shot and No. 4 in discus.
Texas Track & Field Notebook
Longhorns Among NCAA Favorites
• Texas is among the elite programs in the NCAA again in 2017 and the women are eyeing their first NCAA indoor title since 2006 as they stand at No. 5 in the USTFCCCA Indoor Preseason Rankings heading into the meet. The men's team is No. 7 in the rankings after finishing 5th at the NCAA Championship last year.
• Texas is 1 of 7 schools to have its men's and women's teams ranked in the Top 10 in the preseason.
• The Big 12 Conference has 3 other men's team ranked in the Top 25: Texas Tech (12), Oklahoma State (14) and Oklahoma (24).
• The Big 12 Conference has 4 other women's teams ranked in the Top 25: Oklahoma State (11), Baylor (13), Kansas State (18), Oklahoma (25).
• Last year at NCAA Indoors the women won 3 events with Teahna Daniels claiming the 60m with an American Junior record time of 7.11 seconds. She is back for her sophomore season. Courtney Okolo won the 400m and anchored the victorious 4x400m relay and has graduated, but half of the champion relay squad is back in 2017. For the men, Zack Bilderback became the first Longhorn to win the men's 400m, but the then-senior graduated.
• 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.
2017 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 gone on to win multiple Olympic medals. One Longhorn is on the Preseason Watch List among those up for the award.
• Senior Byron Robinson won the 400m hurdles at the Big 12 Championship in May, posted the fastest time in the NCAA and ran for Team USA in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to help garner his spot on the list.
> Robinson ran No. 1 time in collegiate season last year in 49.10 seconds at the LSU Alumni Gold
> Claimed Big 12 Conference title in 49.39 seconds
> Ran personal best 48.79 to finish 2nd at U.S. Olympic Trials and qualify for Team USA
> Advanced through prelims at the Olympic Games with time of 48.98
> Improved his PR in the semifinals to 48.65 for the No. 8 time but missed advancing to the final by .01.
> During 2016 indoor season, Robinson broke the school record in the 600 yards to win the Big 12 Conference Championship. His time of 1:07.99 also broke the Big 12 meet record.
Standard Bearers
• No school holds more current collegiate records than the Texas Longhorns. The men and women combine to hold a total of 8 collegiate records heading into the 2017 season. The nearest competitor is Arkansas with 5 records. Arizona, Colorado and LSU each have four. All of Colorado's records are held by one athlete.
• Two of UT's records were set during the 2016 campaign. Ryan Crouser tied the indoor collegiate record in the shot put at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Courtney Okolo already owned the collegiate record in the outdoor 400 meters, but she cut .32 off her time running 49.71 seconds at the LSU Alumni Gold in April.
Players Mentioned
