The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Indoor Championships
NCAA Championships on tap for Track & Field
03.08.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns face best of the best in College Station this weekend
Meet Info & Links
NCAA Championships
Location: College Station, Texas
Complete Texas Notes
Meet Central | Live Results | Meet Schedule | Tickets
Live Video: Friday 5:25 pm / Saturday 3:55 pm
Twitter Accounts: Texas / NCAA / USTFCCCA / FloTrack / RunnerSpace
Hashtag: #NCAATF
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field takes on the best of the best this weekend as the Longhorns head to College Station for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Longhorns have a total of 14 entries with eight on the men's side and six for the women. The meet starts at noon Friday and Saturday from Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
Last year, the women finished fourth at the indoor national championship meet and the men took fifth. This year they both enter the meet ranked in the top 10. The Longhorn men are No. 10 in the latest USTFCCCA Rankings and the women are No. 9. The favorites leading into the meet according to the USTFCCCA are the No. 1 Florida men and Oregon women.
Texas has a handful of athletes ranked near the top of their respective events looking to bring home individual titles as well. Sophomore Teahna Daniels is the defending champion in the 60 meters. She will face a strong field including last year's runner-up Hannah Cunliffe from Oregon. Cunliffe broke the collegiate record in this event earlier this season to make this a very strong field at the NCAA Championships.
The men's 60 meters will be one of the deepest events at the meet with a total of eight runners clocking 6.59 seconds or faster this season. Senior Senoj-Jay Givans is among that elite group, running 6.59 to win his third Big 12 title.
Senior Chrisann Gordon and sophomore Zola Golden hope to keep the women's 400 crown in Austin as they take on a strong field as well. Gordon currently ranks No. 3 in the event and Golden ran a new personal best time at Big 12's to rank No. 6 heading into the meet. Texas has won a total of five titles in this event, including back-to-back from Courtney Okolo the last two years.
The women have won a total of six NCAA indoor team championships with their last coming in 2006. The men have never won a team NCAA title and look to be the first team from the Big 12 Conference to win since its inception.
Action begins at noon Friday from with the pentathlon and first day of heptathlon. Texas has two entries in the heptahtlon to start competition early each day for the Longhorns. Field events start at 5:15 p.m. Friday with preliminary heats of running events starting at 5:30 p.m. along with finals for the 5,000 meters and distance medley relay. Day 2 of action also starts at noon and team champions will be crowned after the conclusion of the 17 events at approximately 6:50 p.m.
This year's NCAA Championships will be live streamed via ESPN3.com or on mobile devices with the WatchESPN app. Live results can be found online at FlashResults.com with up-to-date info after each running event heat and attempt in field events.
In addition to the live streaming from ESPN, fans can follow the action from the meet with the team's official Twitter feed @TexasTFXC. The NCAA will be tweeting from @NCAATrackField. Fans can interact and keep up with the meet by also following and using the hashtag #NCAATF.
Events to Watch
• Women's 60m: Teahna Daniels is the defending NCAA champion in this event after becoming the first freshman to win last year.
• Women's 400m: Olympian Chrisann Gordon wants to make its 3 wins in a row for Texas in this event. She finished 3rd a year ago and is joined by sophomore Zola Golden in the field. If both Golden and Gordon can finish in the top 8, it will mark the 4th straight year Texas has scored multiple athletes in the women's 400m.
• Men's 60m: Senoj-Jay Givans looks to become the first Longhorn to win the men's 60m crown. He is up against an impressive field with 8 runners who have clocked 6.59 seconds or faster this year. He finished 4th in this event in 2015.
• Heptathlon: UCLA transfer Steele Wasik won this event at the Big 12 Championship leading a group of Longhorns to a 1-2-3 finish. Wolf Mahler joins in the field looking to have another strong showing after finishing 6th at the 2015 NCAA Championship. Texas last had 2 athletes in the heptathlon in 2012. Georgia also has 2 athletes in the field. Texas has won this event 3 times.
• Women's 60m Hurdles: Rushelle Burton is 1 of only 2 freshmen in this event this weekend. Her time of 8.03 ranks 7th in the NCAA this season. No freshman has ever won the women's 60m hurdles title.
• Women's Pole Vault: This is the 5th straight year Texas has at least 1 vaulter in the women's field. Kally Long enters the meet ranked No. 4 in the NCAA this season and it will mark her first competition since sustaining an injury during competition on Feb. 10. Shay Petty makes her NCAA Championship debut. Only Texas and Arkansas have multiple entries in the women's pole vault.
• Men's 60m Hurdles: Spencer Dunkerley-Offor makes his NCAA Indoor debut. He missed 2016 with an injury and finished 6th outdoors in 2015. He looks to represent Texas and the conference well as the only Big 12 athlete in the field this year.
• Men's Pole Vault: Barrett Poth makes his NCAA Indoor debut ranked No. 9 in the field. He finished 17th outdoors last year. Poth has set a new PR in 4 out of 5 meets this year.
• Men's Long Jump: Sophomore Steffin McCarter has not finished worse than 3rd in his 4 meets this season. He looks to build on his 13th-place finish outdoors last year.
• Men's Triple Jump: Freshman O'Brien Wasome finished 2nd at Big 12's and enters the meet ranked No. 5. Texas has never won the men's triple jump.
• Men's 4x400m Relay: This marks the first time in program history the men have qualified for NCAA Indoors in this event 3 consecutive years. The Longhorns are ranked No. 7 and finished 4th a year ago. The 3rd-place finish in 2015 is the best in school history.
Texas Track & Field Notebook
Long Returns from Injury
• Junior Kally Long is set to return to competition this week at the NCAA Championships in the pole vault after an injury suffered during competition on Feb. 11 at the Husky Classic.
• Long told reporters this week she missed landing in the pit on an attempt, landing on the ground and poked a hole in her lung. Due to the air escaping her lung into her body, she was unable to travel because of pressure changes and spent a week in the hospital in Seattle before returning to Austin.
• Long also also had a displaced rib from the incident that prevented her from competing at the Big 12 Championship.
• After getting a clean bill of health and being cleared to compete, Long is ready for NCAA Championships this week and had practice last Friday in her first jumping session since the injury.
• In practice this week, Long said she is right back where she left off before the injury.
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 end of the 2017 indoor season. The nearest competitors is Oregon with 6. Arkansas and Texas A&M each have 5 records. Colorado and LSU have 4, and all of Colorado's records are held by a single 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.
Longhorns win Men's Big 12 Championship
• Texas claimed its 8th men's title at the Big 12 Indoor Championship this year. The men scored a total of 123.5 points en route to their victory.
• The Longhorns won 3 events: 60m, Heptathlon, 4x400m Relay.
• Senior Senoj-Jay Givans won his 3rd title in the 60m clocking in at 6.59 seconds.
• Texas scored big in the heptathlon finishing 1-2-3 and grabbing 24 team points.
• It marked the 8th time Texas has won the heptathlon. Kansas State is closest behind with 5 titles in the event.
• The win in the 4x400m Relay ensured the team title and was the 2nd win for the Longhorns in that event.
• Texas had a complete team effort in the win, scoring points in all but 3 of the 19 events.
Texas Rakes in Big 12 Awards
• The Longhorns had a strong showing at the Big 12 Indoor Championship for both the men and women that resulted in Texas winning 3 of the 6 conference's postseason awards.
• Head Coach Mario Sategna was named the Men's Head Coach of the Year by his peers for the 2nd time.
• Senior Senoj-Jay Givans earned the Men's Outstanding Performer of the Year. He won the 60m while also taking 3rd in the 200m and running on the winning 4x400 to secure the team title. He tallied a total of 18.5 points for the team.
• Freshman Rushelle Burton won the Women's Outstanding Freshman of the Year after she was the only freshman to win an individual event. Burton ran 8.03 seconds in the hurdle prelims and won with a time of 8.09 in the final.
Women Dominate Big 12 Sprints
• Texas won 3 of the 4 individual sprint events at the Big 12 Championships: Teahna Daniels 60m; Rushelle Burton 60m Hurdles, Chrisann Gordon 400m
• 58 of the team's 100 points came from the 4 sprint events.
• The women tallied 21 points in the 60m hurdles finishing 1-2-6 in the final with Burton joined by Ariel Jones and Mariam Abul-Rashid
• Texas got a 1-2 finish in the 400m with Gordon and Zola Golden.
• Daniels also finished 3rd in the 200m with Golden taking 6th.
Longhorns Display Depth in Combined Events
• The trio of Steele Wasik, Wolf Mahler and George Patrick finished 1-2-3 in the heptathlon at the Big 12 Championship to return the Longhorns to dominance in the event. All 3 posted PR scores.
• Wasik's win with 5,817 points marks the 8th win for Texas in the event and ranks him 5th in school history.
• Mahler scored 5,804 to rank 6th in school history.
• Patrick posted a score of 5,482 points while posting a total of 6 PRs over the 2 days of action.
• Wasik and Mahler both qualified for the NCAA Championship, making Texas 1 of only 2 teams with multiple entries in the heptathlon this week joining Georgia.
• With their entries at the NCAA meet, it gives Texas a total of 12 all-time since the event began being contested at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2004. Only Kansas State, Georgia and Wisconsin have more, all with 13.
• Texas has had multiple entries in the heptathlon 3 times prior to 2017. Only once in 2005 did both finish in the top 8 to score points for the team total.
• Texas has won 3 NCAA titles in the heptathlon: all won by Donovan Kilmartin (2004, 2006, 2007). Only Oregon and Duke have also won multiples.
Jumpers Roll at Big 12 Championship
• The men's jumps group tallied a total of 26.5 points at the conference championship meet to help the Longhorns win.
• Freshman O'Brien Wasome finished 2nd in the triple jump with a new PR leap of 16.38m (53-9.00). It took a Big 12 meet record performance to defeat him at 16.49m. Wasome's jump also catapulted him to 5th on the NCAA list this season and qualified him for the NCAA Championships.
• Senior Nick Phynn helped Wasome add to the team's total in the triple jump finishing in 6th place. He had his best measurement of the season at 15.58m (51-1.50).
• Sophomore Steffin McCarter finished 3rd in the long jump. He tied for the No. 2 jump at 7.64m (25-0.75), but the tiebreaker went to Oklahoma State's jumper with a better second-best jump.
• Redshirt sophomore Barrett Poth tied for 4th in the pole vault at 5.37m (17-7.75). A miss on his first attempt at that height bumped him to 4th. A first-attempt clearance would have pushed him into a tie for 2nd. It marked the first time this season Poth did not break or tie his PR. His average jump this season is 5.38m and his highest mark is 5.50m (18-0.50) to rank 9th heading into the NCAA meet this week.
• Senior Spencer McCloud had his best showing yet at a conference championship meet. He tied his PR of 2.11m (6-11.00) to finish in 4th place and score 5 points. It marked the first time in his career he has scored at a conference championship meet. It also came 2 years after he broke his foot during warmups at the Big 12 Indoor Championship.
Texas Track & Field Quotes
Head Coach Mario Sategna
On hopes and expectations for weekend: Well there's such a change, the dynamic. You come off the big 12 Championship where you have a set roster and the NCAA it's all based off the order list. We got a great group on both sides with the men and the women. If you look on paper at the number of bodies we've got on the men's side, we've got a great chance if we put it together to be in that top four and bring home a team trophy, but at the same time that's no slight on the women. They're going in there and they're going to excel at the highest level as well. I think the big thing is just people making and advancing to the final.
Obviously, no matter what the event, you're with the best of the best. With as many bodies as we can get advancing to the final day 2 or advancing in that event, and score as many points as possible. We have a veteran group and I'm expecting some great results.
On Kally Long's recovery and coming back: It's great to have her back. She was up at the conference championship with us. She's a big fan of everybody and just glad number one, that she's safe. We weren't sure on a timeline so for her to be back jumping and stuff this soon after that accident, we're all very blessed and very fortunate to have her a part of that.
On Kally Long: The pole vault is one of the most technically demanding events in track and field. The one thing as a pole vaulter that you never want to think of, is plant wrong and getting shot off to the side. But injuries do occur, and some that are very much catastrophic. When we first got that call and knew the seriousness of it, you're just making sure that she was OK. The staff there in Seattle did a great job. For her, is to not feel like even though she's got a national mark prior to that and she's at the national championships, still just to enjoy being back. I know it's a big meet on a big stage but it's still a stepping stone for her. Win, lose or draw, no matter what happens this weekend for everybody, we get to get a clean slate and prepare for the outdoor which will be very long for those that make it all the way through conference, regionals and then NCAA Outdoor which isn't until June. She's shown so much, in terms of who she is and character, that like I said, we're very grateful that she's where she is healthy and she'll be back jumping for Texas.
On how it feels to be back with team and going to nationals: There's so much that goes into this. Our indoor season comes and goes in a hurry that what you do in the fall from September through December is very, very important and that's where the assistant coaches and the associate head coaches, led by Tonja and Ty, did a phenomenal job of preparing the team. But there's so much that goes into behind the scenes with the rest of them. You look at our strength coaches and medical when we're hitting them from week to week January up into this point. It's very demanding of our student-athletes with the traveling that's involved, and at the same time you're balancing what you've got going on the academic front and so we're excited. We obviously didn't want to see our run end on the women's side of consecutive conference titles, but hats go off to Baylor. They did a great job during the indoor. But I think for those who aren't advancing to the national meet, this is a little bit of a break to them to get back to work and get ready for outdoor. For the men, we've got some great senior leadership and not just at the conference, but now who will represent Texas at the national indoor meet.
On the group going to NCAAs: At this level, it's not so much one last talk or one last speech is going to put them over the top. They're at this point because they expect to be the best. So even in the world of track and field where injuries sometimes pop up, it's great to see their hard work, and their trust and dedication, in their coaches and this university that they're going to be representing us all this weekend.
Junior Pole Vaulter Kally Long
On her injury and progress: About three weeks ago, I completely missed the mat. I went off to the right when I was vaulting. It was actually my opening bar at a meet in Seattle. I don't remember the jump at all, I just remember bits and pieces. I remember laying on the ground and saying bye to my teammates and saying bye to my coaches. So what happened was I had a concussion, I hit my head, and then I popped a hole in my lung. So that released some air. The reason I had to stay in the hospital and stay in Seattle for a whole week was because the escaped air, I wasn't able to fly because of the change of pressure. Luckily, it could've been so much worse. It could've been 10 times worse. I didn't break anything, which was great. My teammates and my coaches were outstanding. They sent me so many get well texts, and Ty, my pole vault coach, actually sent me flowers. So everyone was very, very supportive. So when I got back to Austin I had to do some more x-rays. I had to make sure that everything was fine and I had to go through all this protocol so I could come back and jump. I had my first practice on Friday and I practiced yesterday, and it was great. It was everything I could've hoped for going into nationals this week so that was really exciting. I'm just very happy that everything went as smoothly as it did.
On how she feels going into such a big meet: I feel like the only person that's expecting anything out of me is myself. Because I'll only have three jump practices in the past three weeks going into nationals and I wasn't able to workout for so long, it is going to be a mental game going back. I don't think I'm scared to pole vault, but I don't want to have to fight that. So we'll see about that. I feel like the only person only expecting anything out of me is myself so I just want to please myself. I want to please my team. Obviously, I would love to score for them. I feel like it's kind of a great place to open back up at because the intensity is high."
On what she expects out of herself: I would love to get back where I left off. So I was having an amazing season before this. I jumped 14-6 twice, I haven't jumped below 14 (feet). I would absolutely love to place and I'd love to be able to jump close to my PR again, but I'll find small victories regardless. I'll find the positives. Because of this situation, I've learned to just be able to be thankful for everything I have and just look for the positive in everything.
On if she would be where she is now without positive outlook: I think mental attitude is 90 percent of this sport, especially pole vaulting, so I don't think so. I've been visualizing everything, I've been telling myself 'just be confident, God has a plan for you,' and just trusting in that fully. I don't think I'd be where I am without that attitude.
Sophomore Sprinter Teahna Daniels
On her feelings going into NCAA Championship this weekend: I feel pretty confident. I did well at Big 12 and I know what to do when I get there, so when I get there I feel like I'll be OK.
On her fitness compared to a year ago: A lot better. I dropped my time a lot in the 200, so I know fitness-wise I'm really good this year.
On if there's a different approach this year as defending champ: Not really. I'm more experienced. I know what's going on this year, so I think that'll be an advantage.
On her injury last spring and her recovery in the fall: I feel like myself now. Coming back from that injury during outdoor season, I was a little down about it. My head wasn't in the right space, but this year during the fall training I made sure that I stayed on it. This whole spring season, I've been on it and feeling pretty good."
On what her goal for the weekend is: Just execute and of course win. And drop times. Really, that's all that matters, being able to cross that line first.
Senior Sprinter Chris Irvin
On confidence in 4x400 after Big 12s and going into nationals: Getting that win at Big 12 really gave us that confidence to go into nationals and really put a good time out there. We haven't run too much as an A team this year, but having run that time at Big 12s and getting that win is really going to boost us for nationals.
On his goals at nationals: Obviously just win our heat. See what happens after that. Run as fast as we can, and see what happens.
On what his key to success is: Coach Bailey always told us it's all about chemistry. You can put four fast guys out there and the chemistry can be the key. We have four seniors that have run together since day one. It's really been awesome because we've grown as a team and we've grown because of each other. We're really good friends so that helps us to motivate each other.
On difference between when they were freshman and now: From freshman year until now there's been a lot of trash talk and a lot of teasing that really gets us in the competitive spirit, especially at practice when we're going against some of the best guys in the country. I'm running against Byron, A.J. and Senoj-Jay, guys who are the best in their events. So it really motivates me when we're just having fun. We're really motivating each other to do our best.
Redshirt Junior Hurdler Spencer Dunkerley-Offor
On his Big 12 experience: It was definitely a learning experience. Coming off last year, I redshirted and had knee surgery, so again I didn't have a whole lot of expectations within myself. I wanted to do better than I had done the year before and I ended up doing the exact same so it was definitely an experience. I'm hoping to do a lot better outdoors.
On approaching this championship as a "tune-up:" I'm definitely tuned in and ready to go for the indoor season, but outdoor is really where I shine.
On what he needs to focus on to do well this weekend: It's going to be the start for me. It's always been the start. My reaction time as soon as the gun goes off, I need to react a lot faster. It's always been the first few steps need to be stronger and need to be faster. So that's kind of what I've been working on since I've been back this year.
On his thoughts on this season: It's gone really well. I'm always looking to do better and I'm just pushing myself. But after Big 12s as soon as I came off the track I went up to my coach and she was like 'Where were you this time last year?' I was sitting at home watching. So I'm definitely happy no matter what. I have to look back and I'm definitely happy.
Players Mentioned
