Track & Field heads to New Mexico Classic

Friday, February 2

Albuquerque, N.M.

TBA

University of Texas

New Mexico Classic

02.01.2018 | Track & Field / Cross Country

Longhorns bring full squad to take on large field

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field heads to Albuquerque this weekend for the New Mexico Collegiate Classic where the Longhorns will face a large field that includes some of the top sprinters and hurdlers in the nation. In addition to Texas bringing most of its top sprinters, LSU is expected to be in full force as well with the Tigers currently ranked No. 7 on the women's side.

This week's meet will run over two days from the Albuquerque Convention Center and after a week off for the distance runners, they are looking to take advantage of the altitude conversions to run some fast times.

The Longhorns are coming off a number of strong performances at the Texas Tech Classic, especially from the throwers. Texas posted five marks that rank in the Top 10 in school history last week in Lubbock and look to build on that momentum at a meet the Longhorns did well in a year ago.

Action starts at 4 p.m. Mountain Time on Friday with a series of field events. A handful of running events toe the line beginning at 5. On Saturday, the meet resumes 10 a.m. with the remainder of the field events and running events fire off at 10:15. The 60 meters and 60 meter hurdles will all feature large fields and multiple rounds. Many runners are looking to take advantage of the altitude and fast track at New Mexico in the 200 meters with 80 women entered in the event and just under 50 for the men.

Fans can keep up with the action online with live results provided by LiveRunningResults.com. Links will also be available at TexasSports.com and GoLobos.com. FloTrack will be live streaming the meet for fans with a subscription to its FloPro services.

Events To Watch
• Women's 60m Hurdles: Texas has one of the deepest rosters of hurdlers in the nation and the Longhorns will be up against another strong crew in the LSU Tigers. Texas boasts 4 hurdlers who rank in the Top 30 in the NCAA so far this season, including a pair ranked 15th or better. LSU also has 4 women ranked in the Top 30 in this event. It should be an exciting series of races.
• Men's & Women's 600m: Not a distance you see very often, Texas will enter 4 women and 5 men in this event. Texas does run the 600yds at the Big 12 Championship later in the month. The Longhorns hope to see who can step up in this odd mid-distance event to possibly score at the conference meet.
• Men's Long Jump & Triple Jump: Texas boasts 2 of the top jumpers in the nation in Steffin McCarter and O'Brien Wasome. McCarter takes on the field in the long jump where he currently ranks No. 5 in the NCAA this season. Wasome is ranked No. 8 in the triple jump. Both finished 3rd last year at the NCAA Championships in their respective events.
• Distance Events: After taking last week off from competition, the Longhorns bring their distance runners to the track in New Mexico to chase some fast times. The Longhorns have big groups entered in the mile, 3000m and 800m.
• Men's & Women's 200m: With a large number of teams at this meet, including some of the top sprint programs in the nation, this event will be an exciting one. This event will feature 80 women entered for a total of 20 heats while the men have 12 heats for 49 athletes scheduled to run.

Texas Track & Field Notebook

Piperi Named Big 12 Athlete of the Week
• Freshman Tripp Piperi dominated his event again last weekend at the Texas Tech Classic to be named Big 12 Male Athlete of the Week for his efforts.
• Piperi again showed why he was one of the most highly-touted recruits in the nation out of high school as the freshman flirted with the 20-meter barrier to win the shot put with a mark of 19.83m (65-0.75). That mark ranks him No. 3 in the nation this season.
• His throw broke his own facility record of 19.50m set two weeks ago during the Corky Classic. Piperi registered two throws better than his previous best during the competition and his measurement of 19.83 meters (65-0.75) moves him to No. 3 in school history.

Texas Ranked Among Nation's Best
• Texas Track & Field is again among the top programs in the NCAA this season with the men and women both ranked in the Top 15 of the latest USTFCCCA Rankings.
• The women are currently No. 8 in the nation according to the rankings formula with 5 athletes ranked in the Top 10 in their respective events.
• The men are No. 14 in this week's rankings with 4 athletes in the Top 10 of their events.
• Texas is 1 of 8 schools to have its men and women both ranked in the Top 15 at the moment.
• The Big 12 Conference is well represented with 3 men's teams in the Top 25, including Texas Tech (5) and Kansas (23). For the women, Texas leads the way with Baylor (19), Kansas State (20), Iowa State (21) joining the Longhorns in the Top 25.

Patrick Grabs Big 12 Lead in Heptathlon
• Sophomore George Patrick finished 2nd last year at the Big 12 Indoor Championship in the heptathlon and this year he has his sights set on winning the conference title. He currently leads the Big 12 in his event with a score of 5657 points set at the Texas Tech Classic & Multis last week. Patrick finished 3rd overall in the meet behind Sam Houston State's Tyler Adams (6016 pts) and Olympian Jeremy Taiwo (5738 pts).
• Patrick posted news personal records in 4 of the 7 events for a new overall PR score as well. His mark ranks him as the No. 8 performer in school history in the heptathlon and is significantly higher than No. 2 on the Big 12 list.
• His score of 5657 ranks him No. 8 in the NCAA so far this season. The top 16 scores will qualify for NCAAs.

Wahl, Preiss Emerge in Pentathlon
• Head Coach Mario Sategna has been working to convert triple jumper Georgia Wahl from solely a triple jumper to a multi-athlete for the indoor season. He also has been turning Virginia Preiss into a multi-athlete as she made her outdoor debut last season. The pair competed in their first pentathlon indoors at the Texas Tech Classic & Multis and already are among the Top 10 in school history.
• The meet was loaded with All-Americans, both current and former, as the bulk of the mutli-event group from the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista made the trek to Lubbock to compete. In that strong field, Wahl finished 8th overall with a score of 3717 points and Preiss was 10th at 3614.
• Both Wahl and Preiss found themselves on the Top 10 performer list at Texas after their first-ever pentathlon. Wahl's score ranks her No. 6 in school history and Preiss is right behind her at No. 7.
• Wahl and Preiss are currently ranked No. 6 and No. 7 in the Big 12, respectively.

Caldwell Climbing Texas Top 10s
• Senior thrower Lauryn Caldwell has been steadily improving her personal records all season indoors in the shot put and weight throw. At the Texas Tech Classic, she posted new PRs in both events and now ranks in the Top 10 in school history in both events.
• Her distance of 18.48m (60-7.75) placed her 3rd in the competition but was just 8cm short of the school record.
• In the shot put, she cracked the Top 10 list at Texas with a mark of 14.96m (49-1.00).
• Caldwell now ranks in the Top 10 in school history in all but 1 throwing event (javelin). An improvement of less than 10 feet would put her on that list, too.
• Caldwell currently ranks No. 5 in the Big 12 in the weight throw and is No. 9 in the shot put.

Longhorns Add Jones to 2018 Signing Class
• Texas added to its recruiting class with the signing of Jonathan Jones. The native of Barbados is a sprint/mid-distance combo rarely seen with specialty in both the 400 and 800 meters.
• Jones has a personal best of 46.92 seconds in the 400 meters, 1:48.16 in the 800 and has run 3:55.08 in the 1500.
• Assistant Coach Zach Glavash said: "Jonathan is the type of athlete that we can use in both the 400, 800 and 1,500 meter events. He also will give us lots of options for the 4x400 and DMR. His 400 meter ability shows great promise in his potential in the 800. It is rare to find an athlete with this type of range. He reminds me of the type of ability and determination that school-record holder and two-time NCAA Champion Jacob Hernandez had."