The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Victor Lopez Classic
Track & Field heads to Houston for Victor Lopez Classic at Rice
03.23.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns set to debut in outdoor events
Meet Info & Links
Meet Info | Live Results | Twitter: Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field travels to Houston this weekend to compete at the Victor Lopez Classic hosted by the Rice Owls. The Longhorns are in for two days of action with a number of athletes debuting in their primary outdoor events that are not held during the indoor season as Texas will field athletes in the 400 meter hurdles, including back-to-back Big 12 champion Ariel Jones, and the steeplechase.
Action gets underway from Wendel D. Ley Track at 9 a.m. Friday with the men's hammer throw followed by the women. After a handful of high school events, Texas takes on a series of distance events during the evening session on Friday before a full day of action on Saturday starting at 10 a.m.
Tickets to the meet are $5 for children ages 3-16 and $10 for 17 years and older. Fans are asked to pay in cash as credit cards will not be accepted at the gate.
Fans can keep up with the action online with live results available at the meet central page on RiceOwls.com. Updates on the Longhorns will be on the team's official Twitter account @TexasTFXC.
Events to Watch
• Women's 400m Hurdles: Ariel Jones makes her season debut in her primary event. The junior from Houston is the back-to-back Big 12 champion. Sophomore Mariam Abdul-Rashid looks to build off a strong 2016 that saw her represent Canada at the IAAF World Junior Championships in both hurdle events.
• Men's 110m Hurdles: Spencer Dunkerley-Offor makes his outdoor debut this season. He missed the 2016 season due to an injury and finished 6th at the NCAA Championships in this event in 2015.
• Women's 100m Hurdles: Texas looks to display its depth in the women's hurdles on Saturday with 4 Longhorns in action. Ariel Jones and Ashley Miller have both qualified for NCAA Championships before. Sophomore Mariam Abdul-Rashid and freshman Rushelle Burton both ran at the IAAF World Junior Championships last summer.
• Women's Discus & Hammer Throw: Junior Lauryn Caldwell broke her own school record in the hammer throw twice last week. Every time she steps in the circle this season she has the potential to extend that mark. Freshman Elena Bruckner has the school record in her sights.
Texas Track & Field Notebook
Caldwell Breaks School Record Twice
• Junior Lauryn Caldwell broke her own school record in the hammer throw twice to open the outdoor season.
• Caldwell finished 5th at the UTSA Invitational with a final mark of 55.42m (181-10). She improved her previous record by nearly 5 feet.
Crouser Dominates in Javelin Debut
• Junior transfer Haley Crouser posted her first win as a Longhorn when she crushed the field in the javelin at the UTSA Invitational to open the outdoor season.
• Crouser posted a throw of 51.41m (168-8) to set a new meet record and defeat the field by more than 50 feet.
• Her throw ranks her 8th on the NCAA list so far this season.
Bruckner Breaks Meet Record
• Freshman Elena Bruckner wasted no time making her presence known in her primary event as she broke the meet record in the discus at the UTSA Invitational.
• Bruckner tallied a distance of 52.83m (173-4) to win by just 1 cm over Purdue's Micaela Hazlewood. The throw ranks Bruckner 5th on the all-time list at Texas as she eyes the school record.
Peterson Opens Outdoor with Victory
• Redshirt sophomore Brian Peterson made it a clean sweep for the Longhorns in the discus at the UTSA Invitational to open the season.
• He got his victory with a throw of 52.15m (171-1) to also set a new meet record, bringing the total for the Longhorns to 3 meet records at the UTSA Invitational.
Wasome Joins Group of Elite Freshman
• Triple jumper O'Brien Wasome finished 3rd at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a leap of 16.49m (54-1.25). It was the best finish by a Longhorn in the event since Chris Hercules finished 2nd in 2001.
• The distance of 16.49m puts Wasome among the best freshmen in NCAA history. He is now 1 of 6 freshman to hit the 16.40m mark indoors in the triple jump, joining Christian Taylor (Florida), Will Claye (Oklahoma), Clayton Brown (Florida), Bryce Lamb (Texas Tech) and KeAndre Bates (Florida).
• It is elite company that has gone on to do well on the international stage as Taylor has won back-to-back gold medals at the Olympic Games with Claye taking silver at both the London and Rio Olympic Games behind Taylor.
McCarter Makes Mark at NCAA Indoor
• Sophomore Steffin McCarter proved to be an emerging elite jumper for the Longhorns with his 3rd-place finish in the long jump the NCAA Indoor Championships.
• McCarter's distance of 7.83m (25-8.25) made his the first Longhorn to finish in the top eight since Marquise Goodwin took 3rd place in 2012 and 2011.
Givans Grabs Fourth Place
• Senior Senoj-Jay Givans clocked his fastest time of the season during the final of the 60 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championship to finish in 4th place.
• Givans ran 6.59 seconds to tie his mark from the Big 12 Championship and register his best finish at the indoor championship meet.
• Givans became the first man to win the Big 12 title in the 60 meters three times.
Players Mentioned
