The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Men's Track & Field finishes ninth at NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
06.07.2019 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Longhorns earn best outdoor finish since 2015 under first-year Head Coach Edrick Floreal.
AUSTIN, Texas – Another record fell on Friday for the The University of Texas Men's Track & Field squad as the Longhorns scored in five different events to finish ninth at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium. After finishing in 36th, 26th and 25th the past three season, first-year Head Coach Edrick Floreal led the Longhorns to their best outdoor finish since 2015.
The Longhorns efforts were highlighted by sophomore Tripp Piperi winning the NCAA shot put title on Wednesday with a new personal best (69-3 ¼). He became the second Longhorn in the last six years to win the NCAA outdoor shot put title, joining 2014 winner Ryan Crouser. Piperi's winning toss of 69-3 ¼ was a personal best and improved on his mark as the second-best shot putter in UT history, trailing only Crouser, the 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist. Prior to Wednesday, Piperi registered his career-best throw of 68-11 ¼ earlier this year at the Beach Invite and he bettered that on the second throw of Wednesday's competition, eventually winning the national title by more than a foot.
Friday saw five Longhorns in event finals with Jonathan Jones crushing his own UT 400m record and clocking the first sub-45-time (44.64) time in Longhorn history to finish in fourth place and earn All-American honors. The freshman's fourth-place finish is the best finish by any Longhorn in the 400m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since Eddie Southern won his one-lap specialty when it was 440 yards in 1959. Jones broke his own school record (45.02) that he set at the NCAA West Prelims two weeks ago in Sacramento. Jones now owns three of top 11, 400m times in program history and is both the Longhorn record holder and owns the national record for his country of Barbados. His 45.02 clocking two weeks ago broke a 27-year old Longhorn record (45.25, Du'aine Ladejo, 1992) and he clipped near a half a second off of that mark tonight.
Sophomore Micaiah Harris earned All-American honors in the 200m with a fifth-place finish and another outstanding time, the second-best in school history. Over the past two meets, Harris has broken the school record three times, starting with eclipsing a 32-year old mark (20.28, Tony Jones, 1987) at the NCAA West Prelims two weeks ago with a time of 20.21. He then lowered that record in the semifinals on Wednesday with a time of 20.09 and posted the second-fastest time in school history on Friday (20.13). He now holds the top three 200m times on school record.
The two other scorers for the men were steeplechaser Alex Rogers and triple jumper O'Brien Wasome. Rogers earned his first outdoor All-American honor in the 3000m steeplechase, finishing sixth with a time of 8:43.29. He is the first steeplechaser All-American for Texas and first to score in that event at NCAA Championship in 11 years (Jake Morse, 4th, 2009). O'Brien Wasome picked up outdoor All-American honors in the triple jump as he soared to a UT career-best of 16.71m (54-10) to take fifth place. His jump was the third-best outdoor effort in UT history and also makes him the No. 3 outdoor triple jumper performer ever at Texas.
Texas saw seven of its competitors earn Top 10 finishes during the NCAA Championship as sophomore Sam Worley narrowly missed out on earning a top eight finish in the 1500m, clocking just .04 (3:42.81) out of All-American status with a ninth-place finish. Steffin McCarter was 10th in the long jump (25-5 ½) on Wednesday night as well.
The women's competition started on Friday as Ashtin Zamzow began her quest for the women's heptathlon title by matching or setting three PRs in the first four events on day one. The senior started the day breaking her own personal-best in the 100mH (13.33; previous: 13.64), high jumped 1.78m (5-10) to match a career best and then closed out the night with a PR in the 200m (24.23; previous: 24.66). Zamzow, who posted the third-best shot put of the competition at 12.95m (42-6) ended the day in second place with 3,711 points, just 161 back from Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M as the final three events will take place on Saturday.
Action at the 2019 NCAA Championships will wrap up with the women's finals on Friday. Texas qualified their 4x100 relay on Thursday night, along with Teahna Daniels in the 100m and 200m. Georgia Wahl will compete in the finals of the triple jump, while Ashtin Zamzow will look for a title in the heptathlon.
QUOTES
Head Coach Edrick Floreal:
"Although guiding our guys to a Top 10 finish nationally seems like a huge step forward for our program, I still feel like we let an opportunity slip through our fingers. Like Ben Crenshaw said on the eve of the Ryder Cup victory, "I have a good feeling about this team." I have faith in these young men and their abilities. I have to do a better job of getting them to see and believe in their potential. "As Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so is belief is in the heart of the head coach." I'm looking forward to seeing our women finish strong tomorrow."
| National Champion | Event |
|---|---|
| Tripp Piperi | Shot put |
| All-American | Event |
|---|---|
| Tripp Piperi | Shot put |
| All-American | Event |
| Alex Rogers | 3000m steeplechase |
| All-American | Event |
| Micaiah Harris | 200m |
| All-American | Event |
| Jonathan Jones | 400m |
| All-American | Event |
| O'Brien Wasome | Triple jump |
Players Mentioned
