The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Longhorn Invitational
Crouser wins javelin to open Longhorn Invitational
04.28.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Texas performs well in throwing events on Friday
Longhorn Invitational
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field opened the Longhorn Invitational on Friday afternoon with strong showings in a pair of throwing events.
With just the hammer throw and javelin on the schedule for the first day of the meet, Texas put together a series of performances in the women's javelin and hammer throw that will help set the tone heading into the conference championship in two weeks.
Junior Haley Crouser grabbed another win in the javelin for the Longhorns with her second straight meet over 50 meters. She posted the win with a distance of 50.51 meters (165-8) on her fourth throw of the competition to defeat Stanford's Mackenzie Little, who currently ranks No. 2 in the NCAA this season.
It was a gutsy performance that Assistant Coach Ty Sevin said showed Crouser is capable of beating people head-to-head when it matters.
"There were two girls in the meet that were top eight in the country. Again, these were not great conditions for the women's javelin with a strong tailwind, but in these kind of conditions it's one-on-one," Sevin said. "She's been doing that all year when she gets in really tough competitions, even though she hasn't increased her season best, I still think that when she gets head-to-head she will be able to be competitive."
Also in the women's throwing events on Friday, junior Lauryn Caldwell finished 14th in the hammer throw but nearly broke her own school record. Caldwell's opening throw measured 55.29 meters (181-4), just six inches short of tying her Texas record. She then had two big throws that fell outside the sector for fouls.
Freshman Elena Bruckner also nearly had a personal best in the hammer throw with her mark of 52.69 meters (172-10) to finish in 16th place. She was only 11 inches short of her best performance.
Closing the day for Texas was the pair of decathletes Steel Wasik and George Patrick in the men's javelin. They both had their best ever showings in the event with Wasik showing great improvement heading into the conference championship meet.
Wasik shattered his previous personal best mark by more than three meters. He broke his PR on his second throw with a mark of 59.46 meters but then extended that mark on his third attempt at 60.96 meters (200-0).
Patrick tallied a PR on his first throw of the competition, measuring 52.18 meters (171-2).
Sategna said it was important for them both to get big marks within the first three throws of the competition since they will only get three throws during the decathlon's javelin at the Big 12 meet. He said he is hoping to see big marks from Wasik and Patrick at the conference championship to help the team but to also hopefully score big enough to advance to the NCAA Championships in the decathlon.
"We're putting the finishing touches on what we've been working on. As we get into the next decathlon, we'll be counting on some big points for them not only in the team race but to get NCAA qualifying marks," Sategna said. "With some of the changes that we've made it's great to get PR's."
Also posting a personal best in the javelin for the women was Virginia Preiss. The converted multi-event athlete tallied 28.17 meters (92-5) to show steady improvement in one of her many new events this season.
Junior Alan Zapalac started the day off for Texas in the men's hammer throw. He took 11th place with his toss of 55.53 meters (182-2).
The Longhorn Invitational concludes on Saturday with field events starting at 10 a.m. and running events firing off at 11. Admission to the meet is free. The meet schedule for field events has been condensed for Saturday with inclement weather chances increasing late in the day. At this time the schedule for running events has not changed, but if needed a rolling schedule may be adopted.
Coach Talk
Head Coach Mario Sategna
On the importance of throwers and jumpers hitting big marks early in competition: The thing we really try to impress upon them, especially in the throws, it's not about six throws to try and figure things out. You've got to be dialed in within three throws at conference and regionals. That's what it's going to take to advance to the final and put yourself in scoring position.
Assistant Coach Ty Sevin – Throws/Pole Vault
On women's hammer throw: I think Lauryn and Elena were both within half a meter of their PR and really showed you've got to get it done on the first three. There's no doubt I feel that if they would have had another three throws they could have been really successful with new PR's and Lauryn with another school record. I'm happy with the process and that they're consistently performing well.
On Haley Crouser: We had a training session after the competition and she threw pretty close to her all-time PR in training. We're going to keep training, plugging away and I'm looking forward to her going into the conference meet.
Players Mentioned
