The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA West Preliminary Rounds
Track & Field hosts NCAA Preliminary Rounds this week
05.24.2017 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns take on nation's best with spots at championship meet on the line
NCAA West Preliminary Rounds
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AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field hosts the first stage of the NCAA Championship this week when the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds fire off on Thursday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Three days of exciting action await fans as the top athletes from the west region battle for spots at the NCAA Championship meet in June. Action runs Thursday through Saturday and tickets are available with all-session and single-day options available.
The top 48 individuals in each event and 24 relays qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds with the top 12 finishers at this week's meet advancing to the NCAA Championship.
Texas is coming off a Big 12-record third consecutive men's outdoor conference title after the Longhorns put together a complete team effort to hold off the hosting Kansas Jayhawks two weeks ago. The women finished second at the Big 12 Championship, just 3.5 points behind Kansas State.
This week's meet will feature some of the top teams in the nation with six women's teams ranked in the Top 10 in the latest USTFCCCA Rankings. The men's side of the competition also is full of national favorites with five Top 10 teams. The Longhorns come into the postseason ranked No. 8 on the women's side and the men stand at No. 15.
Both Texas teams rank in the top five in terms of entries in the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds competing this week. The Longhorns join rival Texas A&M as the only teams in the West with at least 25 Preliminary Round entries for their men and women.
The meet starts at 11 a.m. Thursday with a series of field events. Running events are slated to start at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Day 2 of action begins at noon with running events again to fire at 4:30 p.m. Saturday's slate begins at 1 p.m. for field events and 6 p.m. on the track.
Fans can follow the action live with online live results provided by PTTiming. A link is available online at texassports.com and on the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds headquarters page housed at texassports.com. Updates on the Longhorns will be on the team's official Twitter account @TexasTFXC. The NCAA will be following the meet with updates from the West and East meets at @NCAATrackField.
Texas will live stream each day's action online at texassports.com. Links will be posted on the meet headquarters page and the team's schedule page.
What To Watch
• Women's 100m hurdles: Texas shows off its incredible depth in this event this week with 4 entires. Led by Big 12 champion and freshman Rushelle Burton, the Longhorns look to prove to be the top hurdle group in the West. Junior Ariel Jones comes in ranked No. No. 4 in the region after running 12.87 seconds at the Big 12 Championship. Burton holds the No. 1 time in the nation this year at 12.65 seconds. Ashley Miller ranks No. 14 in the region entering the meet and qualified for the NCAA Championship last year as a true freshman. Sophomore Mariam Abdul-Rashid completes the tandem and won the Canadian Junior Championship last year.
• Women's 400m: Texas has dominated this event with more NCAA titles than any school. This year's threat to continue that legacy is senior Chrisann Gordon. She holds the No. 2 time in the NCAA and leads a trio of Longhorns on the track. Sophomore Zola Golden has proven to be a threat as well with the No. 12 team in the country. Freshman Serenity Douglas rounds out the group after her 7th-place finish at the Big 12 Championship.
• Men's 400m Hurdles: Senior Byron Robinson finished 9th at the 2016 Olympics in this event and is seeking his first NCAA title. He successfully defended his Big 12 title in the 400m hurdles and currently has the No. 5 time in the West this season. Sophomore Kirema Macharia makes his NCAA West debut. He is coming off a personal best performance during the prelims at the Big 12 meet.
• Women's Pole Vault: One of the deepest fields in the meet, the Women's Pole Vault will feature national champion and Olympian Lexi Weeks from Arkansas. With 11 of the top 15 in the NCAA this season all coming from the West, it will be a battle to see who can finish in the top 12 and advance to the NCAA Championship. Looking to make return trips to Eugene for the Longhorns are junior Kally Long and redshirt sophomore Ali Uhle. Long tied for 7th at the NCAA Championship last season.
• Men's 110m hurdles: Texas has a trio of Longhorns looking to move on to Eugene in this event led by Spencer Dunkerley-Offor. The Big 12 champion missed last season due to injury and finished 6th at the NCAA Championship as a sophomore in 2015. He hopes for a return along with sophomore John Burt, who finished 23rd last year. Decathlete Steele Wasik hopes to qualify in a second event for Eugene, entering the meet ranked No. 21 in the West.
• Women's 100m/200m: The best sprinters in the NCAA will be on the track against each other in these short sprints. With 8 of the top 12 in the 200m and 7 of the top 12 in the 100m, these events are sure to bring fire to the track. Sophomore Teahna Daniels is fresh off her win at the Big 12 Championship in the 100 looking to qualify in both event for Texas.
• Women's Hammer Throw: Arizona State junior Maggie Ewen ranks No. 2 all-time in NCAA history in this event after she came up just 5 inches short of the record a month ago. She highlights the elite throwers at this week's meet. Ewen also is entered in and expected to advance in the shot put and discus, ranking in the top 3 in the region in all of her events.
Texas Track & Field Notebook
Texas Men Win 3rd Straight Big 12 Championship
• The Longhorns made history at the Big 12 Championship this season winning their third consecutive men's title. It marked the first time in the league's 20-year history a men's team has won three straight outdoor conference titles.
• It marked the 8th overall Big 12 outdoor title for men as they held off the hosting Kansas Jayhawks by 10.5 points.
• Texas owns 18 Big 12 outdoor titles combined among the men and women.
Texas Sweeps Hurdle Titles at Big 12 Championship
• The Longhorns dominated the hurdle events at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship this year, winning all four.
• It marked the first time in Big 12 history a school had won all the hurdle events at the conference meet.
• Texas completed the men's 110/400 hurdles sweep for the first time with Spencer Dunkerley-Offor and Byron Robinson winning those events, respectively.
• The women pulled off the 100/400 hurdles sweep for the fourth time thanks to Rushelle Burton and Ariel Jones.
Wasik Wins Big in Decathlon
• Steele Wasik made it an indoor/outdoor sweep in the combined events as he dominated to win the decathlon.
• Wasik posted a new personal best score of 7,715 points to win easily by 632 points. His score also set a new facility record at Rock Chalk Park, new home of the Kansas Jayhawks and the prestigious Kansas Relays.
• With his total of ,715 points, Wasik ranks No. 11 in the NCAA this season and qualifies for the NCAA Championship where he will be joined by teammate Wolf Mahler in the decathlon. Mahler ranks No. 8 from his score at Texas Relays.
• The decathlon was not Wasik's only impressive showing at the Big 12 Championship. He also competed in two open events and scored in both.
• After finishing Day 1 of the decathlon, Wasik threw in the open javelin competition finishing in 7th place.
• Then after finishing Day 2 of the decathlon, he ran in the prelims of the 110m hurdles, advancing to the final. In the final, he finished in fifth place to bring his overall point total toward the team scoring to 16 points.
Dunkerley-Offor Claims 1st Big 12 Crown
• After missing the 2016 season with an injury, redshirt junior Spencer Dunkerley-Offor has been tearing up the track in his return to form. He currently ranks No. 6 in the NCAA in the 110m hurdles and just claimed his first Big 12 Conference title in the event.
• Dunkerley-Offor clocked a wind-aided 13.45 seconds to win his championship and lead a trio of Longhorns in the final to scoring 20 points.
• His time of 13.49 seconds (wind 3.4 m/s) is his official ranking mark this year and puts him No. 2 in the West Region heading into this week's competition.
Robinson Wins Back-to-Back
• Olympian Byron Robinson closed his Big 12 career with back-to-back titles in the 400m hurdles.
• The senior clocked 49.98 seconds in the final to win by a wide margin. The runner-up crossed in 52.28.
• Robinson enters this week's NCAA West Preliminary Rounds with a season best time of 49.55 seconds from the LSU Alumni Gold. That time ranks him No. 9 in the NCAA this year and No. 5 in the West.
Jones Claims 3rd Big 12 Title
• Junior Ariel Jones became just the second woman in Big 12 history to win three consecutive conference titles in the 400m hurdles, joining legendary Longhorn Raasin McIntosh n the process.
• Jones clocked 57.28 seconds to win by .47 over the field.
• She has a season best time of 56.68 seconds from the Texas Invitational. That ranks her No. 10 in the NCAA and No. 4 in the West Region heading into this week's meet..
Burton Wins Hurdles
• Freshman Rushelle Burton continued her successful debut season as a Longhorn winning the Big 12 title in the 100m hurdles. Her victory gives her the indoor/outdoor sweep in her hurdle events.
• She led a team of four Longhorns in the final as Texas scored 23 points in the event.
• Burton leads the NCAA this season with a time of 12.65 seconds. That slightly wind-aided time from the Texas Invitational ranks her as the No. 2 freshman in NCAA history in all conditions.
Gordon Rolls to Win
• Senior Chrisann Gordon gave Texas its 11th women's Big 12 outdoor title in the 400m recently with her dominating win in 51.40 seconds. She bested the field by more than a full second.
• Gordon made it an indoor/outdoor sweep in the 400 in her final season as a Longhorn. She currently ranks No. 2 in the NCAA with a time of 50.64 seconds from the LSU Alumni Gold. She had the No. 1 time until conference championship weekend when she was surpassed by Miami's Shakima Wimbley at 50.40.
• Gordon leads a trio of Longhorns into the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds this week with sophomore Zola Golden also ranked 12th in the NCAA this season. Freshman Serenity Douglas rounds out the group with a time of 53.76.
Longhorns Score Big 12 in Long Jump
• Texas scored big in the long jump with a trio of underclassmen at the Big 12 Championship.
• Freshman O'Brien Wasome claimed 2nd place with a leap of 7.77m (25-6.00) and fellow freshman George Patrick took 3rd at 7.62m (25-0.00). Sophomore Ika Morton made his contribution to the scoring finishing in 8th place.
• The jumps for Wasome and Patrick qualified each for the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds.
• Patrick's breakthrough jump came a day after he fouled all three of his attempts in the long jump portion of the decathlon.
• With Wasome, Patrick and Morton combined the Longhorns scored 15 points in an event they were projected to score zero. That gave the team momentum for the rest of the meet.
Sategna Named Team USA Head Coach
• Texas Head Coach Mario Sategna will wear red, white and blue this summer as he will serve Team USA as the men's head coach at the IAAF World Championships in London.
• This marks Sategna's first time to be named a head coach for Team USA by the USATF for a major championship meet.
• He was a member of Team USA's coaching staff at the 2016 Rio Olympics as the men's assistant coach for throws.
Players Mentioned
