The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
USATF Indoor Championships
Okolo wins gold at USATF Indoors
02.18.2018 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Bailey finished 2nd to make Team USA for men
USATF Indoor Championships
Live Results
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Two Lifetime Longhorns will wear red, white and blue next month as members of Team USA at the IAAF World Indoor Championships. Courtney Okolo won gold in the women's 400 meters at the USATF Indoor Championships on Sunday to make the team, and Aldrich Bailey Jr. took silver in the men's 400 to also make the team.
Okolo ran a season-best time 51.16 seconds in a dramatic finish, winning by just .01. Her time ranks No. 1 in the world this year indoors.
"Courtney executed the race exactly as planned. We have been race modeling for the last two weeks and she put it together perfectly," said Texas Interim Head Coach Tonja Buford-Bailey. "Her poise shows how bright her future is in this sport."
Bailey clocked his second personal record of the meet with a time of 45.59 seconds to finish in second place. His runner-up finish is more impressive considering he came out of the slower heat of the finals after running the No. 5 time in the semifinals on Saturday.
"AJ showed the world what we all knew for a long time," Buford-Bailey said. "He is such a special athlete. Watching him finally live out his dream is something that I hope our Longhorn men are paying close attention to and continue to be inspired by. AJ just proved that perseverance and endurance pays off."
Also competing well for the Longhorns on Sunday was current junior Teahna Daniels. She finished in third place in the women's 60 meters with a season-best time 7.22 seconds. Daniels came to the meet with the goal of getting more races under her belt and lowering her time on the national performance list after missing a two meets following the passing of her father.
Daniels accomplished that goal with her time entering the weekend standing at 7.31. Her time now ties her for No. 8 on the NCAA list before taking the conversion for altitude into account. That will bump her down slightly but should keep her in the Top 12. Daniels also clocked 7.27 in the semifinals earlier in the day.
"With Teahna, we accomplished exactly what we came to this meet for. One, to get another opportunity to race, which will set her up in a good position for the Big 12 and NCAAs. Secondly, to improve upon her NCAA time on the descending order list," Buford-Bailey said. "Furthermore, the experience of competing against the nation's best will bode well for her down the road."
Two pole vaulters from Texas were in action in the women's pole vault. Senior Kally Long was looking to improve her mark on the year, similar to Daniels. She was unable to clear the opening height, however, with the meet starting at a much higher mark than most collegiate meets. Shay Petty also was in action. She is redshirting this indoor season and was competing unattached and also did not clear a bar.
Lifetime Longhorn Kyle Merber was another alumnus in action looking for a spot on Team USA. He came up short of that goal finishing seventh in the 1,500 meters, clocking 3:44.03.
The IAAF World Indoor Championships are scheduled for March 1-4 from Birmingham, United Kingdom.
The current Longhorns head to Ames, Iowa, this week for the Big 12 Indoor Championship. Action is set to begin Friday morning with teams vying to bring a team title home to their campus. The men's team enter as the defending champions and the women are looking to return atop the podium after finishing second last year. Fans with a FloTrack subscription can watch the action live with FloTrack live streaming the meet online.
Players Mentioned
