Track & Field splits for trio of meets

LSU Alumni Gold
Meet Schedule | Live Results | Twitter |
Heat Sheets |

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field splits up this weekend for a trio of meets. The sprinters and jumpers head to the LSU Alumni Gold while the throwers and pole vaulters head north to Baylor's home finale at the Michael Johnson Invitational. The distance crew heads to Stanford for the Cardinal Classic, which will feature some of the top distance races in the nation this weekend. Action starts Friday night at Stanford with two nights of competition. The LSU and Baylor meets are both Saturday only events. All three meets will feature some of the top athletes in the country and ranked teams.

The Michael Johnson Invitational and Cardinal Classic will both be streamed live online with FloTrack. Fans with a subscription to the website's FloPro services can watch both meets. Live results for all three meets are available online as well. Links are provided on each team's homepage as well as the track schedule page at TexasSports.com. Fans can get updates on the Longhorns by following the team's official Twitter account @TexasTFXC.

Admission to the LSU Alumni Gold is free. Tickets to the Michael Johnson Invitational and Cardinal Classic are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Live results from the meets at Baylor and LSU will be provided online via DeltaTiming.com. Live results from Stanford will be at rtspt.com. Fans can also get updates on the events through social media by following the team's official Twitter feed @TexasTFXC.

Events to Watch

LSU Alumni Gold
• Women's 400m: Senior and Olympian Chrisann Gordon makes her outdoor season debut in the 400m this weekend. Competing in the field will be former NCAA champion, Bowerman Award winner and professional runner Jessica Beard.
• Women's 100m Hurdles: A week after going toe-to-toe with the world record holder, freshman Rushelle Burton is back on the track. Last week she ran a slightly wind-aided 12.65 seconds to become the second-fastest freshman in NCAA history under all conditions.
• Women's 100m: With 3 runners ranked in the top 20 on the TFRRS descending order list, this race is packed with speed. Sophomore Teahna Daniels is up against top runners from LSU and Clemson.
• Men's 100m: Senior Senoj-Jay Givans made his outdoor season debut last week and this week he will face some top runners from Northwestern State. Amir James and Micah Larkins both rank in the Top 15 in the nation this year, each clocking 10.20 seconds.
• Women's 400m Hurdles: Junior Ariel Jones posted the No. 9 time in the NCAA this season last week at home. Now she will face the No. 4 runner on her home track in LSU's Kymber Payne.

Michael Johnson Invitational
• Women's Pole Vault: Junior Kally Long is up against some of the top vaulters in the state. She will face Big 12 champion and this year's NCAA indoor runner-up in Annie Rhodes of Baylor on her Senior Day. Texas A&M All-American Emily Gunderson also is in the field.
• Women's Shot Put & Discus: Two of the top throwers in the Big 12 will go head-to-head in these events. Freshman Elena Bruckner will see Baylor's Cion Hicks on her Senior Day. The pair are the top ranked throwers in the field in the shot put.

Cardinal Classic
• Men's 1500m Invitational: Sophomore Alex Rogers faces a strong field that includes the defending Big 12 Conference champion in Oklahoma State's Craig Nowak. Northern Arizona's Geordie Beamish also is ranked No. 11 in the NCAA so far this season.
• Women's 3000m Steeplechase: Sophomore Meghan Lloyd has her sights set on breaking the school record at some point this season. She will have the chance Saturday afternoon where she will see Big 12 mile champion Molly Sughroue from Oklahoma State.
• Women's 5000m Invitational: Senior Sandie Raines is up against some of the top distance runners in the nation in Friday night's finale. She will be up against Sharon Lokedi of Kansas, who will be 1 of the top threats at the Big 12 Championship in three weeks as Raines looks to be the first 3-time champion in the event in conference history.

Texas Track & Field Notebook

Burton Wins Big 12 Athlete of the Week
• Freshman Rushelle Burton earned the first Big 12 Athlete of the Week honor for the Longhorns with her NCAA-leading time in the 100m hurdles at the Texas Invitational.
• Burton went stride-for-stride with world record holder Keni Harrison, clocking in at 12.65 seconds. Her time was slightly wind-aided at 2.3 meters per second to not be eligible for record keeping. Harrison ran 12.54.
• Burton's time does rank as the second-fastest ever by a freshman in the NCAA under all conditions. Defending NCAA champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Kentucky ran 12.54 (3.8 m/s wind) last year at the NCAA Championships.
• Burton won silver at the 2016 IAAF World Junior Championships for Jamaica and has been posting fast times all season in her first year as a Longhorn.
• She crossed the line at the Texas Relays in 12.80 seconds to take second place in the 100m hurdles. That time ranks her fifth in school history and puts her at No. 4 in the NCAA at that point in the season.
• Burton finished 5th at the NCAA Indoor Championship in the 60m hurdles and won the Big 12 title as well to be named Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
• So far this outdoor season, Burton has also played a key role in UT's 4x100m relay team. She ran anchor at all three meets. The Longhorns currently rank 9th in the NCAA this year.

Bailey Among National Leaders
• Senior Aldrich Bailey Jr. ran his 2017 outdoor debut in the 400m last weekend to take 2nd place.
• He clocked 46.06 to rank No. 15 in the NCAA so far this season. Bailey also crossed the line in the 200m in 20.40 seconds to put him at No. 7 and tops in the Big 12.
• His 200m time, although slightly wind-aided, is faster than any mark he recorded last season when he won the Big 12 title and earned Big 12 High Point Scorer at the championship meet.
• Bailey also has played a key role on both the 4x100m and 4x400m relay teams that have the Longhorns among the best in the nation so far this season.

Peterson Wins Texas Invitational
• Redshirt sophomore Brian Peterson grabbed his 2nd win in 3 meets this outdoor season in the discus with a new personal record at the Texas Invitational.
• Peterson's toss of 56.42m (185-1) on his final throw gave him the win and moved him to No. 3 on the Big 12 list.
• His throw also puts him among the top in the nation, standing at No. 26 heading into this weekend's action.
• Peterson currently ranks No. 11 in the West Region. The top 12 finishers at the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in May advance to the NCAA Championship site in Eugene, Oregon.

400m Hurdlers Take Big Step
• Junior Ariel Jones made a big improvement in her best time of the season at the Texas Invitational. Jones ran 56.68 to finish 2nd behind Kentucky's Kiah Seymour by just .01.
• That time cut more than 1.5 seconds off her previous best time of the season (58.29) and shot her up the national rankings to No. 9.
• Jones is the back-to-back defending Big 12 champion in the event.
• Sophomore Kirema Macharia took a full second off his personal best time in the men's race at the Texas Invitational.
• Macharia clocked in at 52.47 seconds to finish in 2nd place. That time puts him in position to qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds at this time and is No. 6 in the Big 12 as the postseason approaches.

Longhorns Among NCAA Favorites
• Texas is among the elite programs in the NCAA again in 2017 with both teams ranked in the Top 10 by the USTFCCCA.
• The women currently stand at No. 9 with the men No. 10 to make the Longhorns the only school in the Big 12 to have both its teams ranked in the Top 10.
• Texas is 1 of 7 schools to have its men's and women's teams ranked in the Top 10.
• The Big 12 Conference has 3 other men's team ranked in the Top 25: Texas Tech (8), Kansas (12), Baylor (19).
• The Big 12 has 2 other women's teams ranked in the Top 25: Kansas State (15), Baylor (24).
• During the indoor season, the men finished in 9th place at the NCAA Championships with 21 points.

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Players Mentioned

Elena Bruckner

Rushelle Burton

Teahna Daniels

Senoj-Jay Givans

Chrisann Gordon

Ariel Jones

Meghan Lloyd

Kally Long

Kirema Macharia

Brian Peterson

Sandie Raines

Alex Rogers