The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Video: Track & Field posts five personal bests at NCAA Championships
06.11.2019 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorn men and women earn pair of top 10 finishes for first time since 2015
AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Texas Track & Field program wrapped up competition on Saturday at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships held at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The Longhorns secured their first top-10 finishes on both the men's and women's side since 2015 with five new PRs set throughout the week.
Ashtin Zamzow won Texas' first NCAA title in the heptathlon, setting a program record with 6,222 points and setting/matching PRs in four of the seven events. Zamzow set personal-bests in the 100m hurdles (13.33), 200m (24.23), long jump (19-8 ¾) and matched her all-time best in the high jump (1.78/5-10) en route to setting the ninth-best total in collegiate history and becoming just the second heptathlete to win the event at their home track. The senior now owns the seven highest point totals in program history and eight of the top 10, three of which she set in 2019.
Tripp Piperi became the second Longhorn in the last six years to win the NCAA title in the shot put with his personal best throw of 69-3 1/4, improving on his mark as the second-best shot putter in UT history. The sophomore set the fourth-best throw in Texas history and only trails Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser, who won the event title in 2014 and holds the top three marks by a Longhorn. Prior to Wednesday, Piperi registered his career-best throw of 68-11 ¼ earlier this year at the Beach Invitational and he bettered that on the second throw of competition, eventually winning the national title by more than a foot.
Freshman Jonathan Jones crushed his Texas 400m record, dropping the first sub-45 time (44.64) by a Longhorn. His fourth-place finish at the outdoor championships was the best finish for a Texas sprinter since Eddie Southern won the 440 yards in 1959. Jones also broke his own national record for his home country of Barbados. In the semifinals, Micaiah Harris broke his own school record in the 200m with a time of 20.09, being just two weeks removed from downing a 32-year old school record (20.28, Tony Jones, 1987) at the West Preliminaries in Sacramento, Calif. The sophomore followed up his record-setting run with a fifth-place finish in the finals (20.13) and recording the top three times in Texas history in his final three races.
O'Brien Wasome soared for a fifth-place finish and All-America honors in the triple jump with a mark of 16.71m/54-10. Wasome became the third-best performer in Texas history and also set the third-best jump in program history.
Players Mentioned
