Mahler moves up Texas record book

Thursday, March 30

Austin, Texas

All Day

University of Texas

90th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, presented by Spectrum

03.30.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country

Decathlete puts together impressive performance at Texas Relays

2017 Texas Relays Headquarters
Competitors
College/Invitational: Men | Women
High School: Boys | Girls

Complete Day 2 Results | Multi-Events Spreadsheets: Decathlon | Heptathlon
Texas Post-Meet Notes | Day 2 Photo Gallery

AUSTIN, Texas – Wolf Mahler put together two full days of impressive work to post one of the best decathlons in school history at the 90^th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, presented by Spectrum.

Mahler scored a total of 7,897 points to finish in third place in the decathlon and tie for fourth in school history.

"I'm so proud of the way that Wolf battled these last two days because we knew it was going to be a tall order with the national indoor meet so close behind us," said Head Coach Mario Sategna. "We didn't have a lot of time to get the 400 meter training or really work on the javelin, which is really taxing on the body. To get a personal best, to get a score that's the fourth best score ever, and here we are in March knowing we have two months to get ready for the national championships. I thought if we had some good wind conditions I think he would have got a couple more bars in the vault and all of the sudden he puts himself in position to go 8,000 points."

One athlete did score 8,000 points. Texas A&M's Lindon Victor broke legendary Longhorn Trey Hardee's collegiate record of 8,465 points with a total of 8,472 points. Hardee set the previous record at the 2006 Texas Relays.

Mahler rode the momentum he gained from Wednesday's performances through the first five events to grab personal records in the 110 meter hurdles to begin Day 2 and another in the discus. He steadily climbed the overall point standings throughout the day as he approached his best event to close the decathlon.

He clocked 4:21.73 to win the 1,500 meters portion of the decathlon and jump three Longhorns in the all-time school record book. His score ties him with former NCAA champion Donovan Kilmartin.

"I think it just shows his range. I don't think any decathlete ever walks away feeling like they had a perfect meet, but I just know he feels that there are so many different points in various events that he can pick up and not just hit 8,000, but 8,050 or 8,100," Sategna said. "And then, all of a sudden, you're stepping up higher and higher at the national meet, which for us as a team is going to be some valuable points."

It was a strong day for the Longhorns in the decathlon all around with transfer Steele Wasik registering multiple PRs in the javelin. Wasik did post a no-height in the pole vault to hinder his score, but he was in position for a top 10 mark in school history and an NCAA qualifying mark. That gives Sategna a boost of confidence in Wasik heading into the remainder of the outdoor season.

Wasik did finish in 13^th place overall with a total of 6,858 points despite taking zero points in the pole vault.

One other multi-event athlete completed the first heptathlon of her career for the Longhorns.

Redshirt freshman Virginia Preiss finished 23^rd in the heptathlon with 4,439 points. Sategna said it was a good first go for Preiss as she is still learning and adjusting to some of the events in the heptathlon while he and Assistant Coach Seth Henson work to convert her into a heptathlete.

"I was proud of Virginia getting through her first heptathlon. When you're doing all of the various training and stuff, until you actually do it over a two-day period in your event, things will start to click," Sategna said. "I see some significant improvement for her moving down the road."

After the multi-athletes took care of their business, the hurdles started the running events for Texas in the afternoon.

Olympian Byron Robinson made his season debut in his primary event, clocking 51.21 seconds to advance to the final of the men's 400 meter hurdles. Sophomore Kirema Macharia ran a new PR of 53.48 and finished 28^th.

For the women, junior Ariel Jones finished 11^th in 59.13 seconds to miss making the final by .27. Sophomore Sydne Fowler ran a new personal best for her in 59.58 seconds to finish 16^th.

The second day of the meet closed with a small distance carnival as the Longhorns competed in the 800, 1,500 and 5,000 meters along with the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Lifetime Longhorn and Olympic silver medalist Leo Manzano opened the evening session by running the Men's 800m Invitational. He clocked in at 1:50.38.

Sophomore Alex Rogers made a statement in the 800 with a fourth-place finish and a time of 1:48.65. He cut more than two seconds off his personal best time.

Redshirt freshman John Rice posted a victory for the Longhorns in the men's steeplechase. He ran his first race over the barriers since high school and clocked in at 9:04.30 while holding off a late charge from a North Texas runner.

Sophomore Meghan Lloyd flirted with breaking the school record in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase by shattering her previous PR. She ran 10:30.17 to finish second and miss the record by less than four seconds.

"I thought that was a great race by John Rice. He ran smart and looked good over the barriers for his first time in quite a while in competition," said Assistant Coach Brad Herbster. "I felt Meghan Lloyd also ran well. She was close to breaking that school record, and I think she has a really good shot at taking that down very soon this season."

Senior Sandie Raines closed the night strong for the women with a runner-up finish in the 5,000 meters.

The third day of the 90^th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, presented by Spectrum, begins at 9 a.m. from Mike A. Myers Stadium with the men's discus. Running events start at 9:35 a.m. when college 4x100 meter relay teams take to the track for preliminaries. LHN will broadcast the meet live on Friday with two segments. The first live segment airs from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The afternoon session broadcast is from 7-9 p.m.

Coach Talk

Head Coach Mario Sategna
On the decathlon: To have the collegiate record set here, I think the neat thing was that Trey [Hardee] was even pulling for Lindon [Victor] throughout this because it's a different fraternity. This is where Trey set the collegiate record, and it's the camaraderie amongst decathletes. It's not about what school or even what country they're from. It's you against yourself, really, so that's really phenomenal.

On Steele Wasik: For Steele, it's obviously disappointing to see somebody not clear a height in the vault and to go through a day and a half of the competition. He also put himself in scoring position to put up a national qualifier. But we'll go back and circle the wagons. It's not to take away from the success he had at indoors, and now, like Wolf, it gives us a chance to get ready for the Big 12 Conference Championships.

On George Patrick: With George, we withdrew him because we have to live to fight another day. But it shows that he's done some great stuff as a freshman. Sometimes the guys that want to be the best are their own toughest critic. I do know that the three of those guys, training together and competing together, really have a chance to rewrite even a strong history and tradition we've had here in the multi.

On Byron Robinson: With the 400 meter hurdlers opening stuff up tonight, it was great to see Byron on the track getting a race in. Like anything, when somebody has competed all the way through the summer, I know he started a little bit later in the fall. He'll sharpen up. I don't have to ask him. I know he wasn't pleased with the time, but he got around the track and now he's in the final. That's the most important thing.

On women's 400m hurdlers: I was happy for our women. I think the more races they get under their belt, I think it will be good for all of them. That was a personal best for Sydne.

Assistant Coach Seth Henson – Jumps/Multi-Events
On Wolf Mahler: That's Wolf Mahler at his finest, finding a way to get it done. I'm sure that Mario eluded to there's a big score on the horizon. It really shows what having longevity in this program over the years you're goin got get better each and every year and each competition. What Wolf really showed was maturity over the last two days.

On Virginia Preiss: It's exciting for Virginia. She's going to learn a lot. Why we do certain things in training and how we set it up. Being out here for two days and having to endure the rigors of the event. There's definitely a bright future for Virginia.