The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Championships
Women's Track & Field closes out NCAA Championships with 10th-place finish
06.08.2019 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Marks the first time that both the Longhorn men and women finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 2015.
AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Texas Women's Track & Field team capped four exciting days of NCAA Championships competition on Saturday at Mike A. Myers Field with a 10th-place team finish. With the Longhorn Men finishing ninth in the team race on Friday, it marks the first time since 2015 that both the men's and women's program finished in the top 10 at the NCAA outdoor meet. All totaled, the Texas Men's and Women's Track & Field squad had two individual champions and 11 Longhorns earned first team All-American honors.
The Longhorn women finished their competition on Saturday with 20 points to tie for 10th place. Senior Ashtin Zamzow highlighted the day by becoming the first-ever Longhorn to win the heptathlon national title and the second in NCAA Championship history to earn a victory in that event on their home track. 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 her school record of 6,222 points, the ninth-best total in collegiate history. It also was the seventh-best heptathlon score ever recorded at the NCAA Championship. Zamzow now owns the top seven heptathlon scores in Longhorn history and eight of the top 10, three of which she recorded in 2019.
Teahna Daniels had a tremendous meet as well, earning All-America honors in three events by scoring in the 100m, 200m and running a leg on the 4x100m relay. Daniels became just the second Texas sprinter in 10 years to score points in both the 100m and 200m at the outdoor championships, joining Morolake Akinosun who last did it in 2016. In the 100m, Daniels clocked the fifth-best time in UT history (11.00) for a fourth-place finish in a record-setting final. She now has two of the top five 100m times in Texas history, previously running a time of 10.99 (third-best in UT history) at the NCAA West Preliminaries. Daniels also placed fifth in the 200m with a time of 22.62, tying the seventh-best time in program history. She is the school record holder in that event with a time of 22.51 that she also set in Sacramento at the NCAA West Prelims two weeks ago. Daniels finished her Longhorn career with six first team All-American honors.
The Texas 4x100 relay also scored as the team of Kennedy Simon, Daniels, Zola Golden and Serenity Douglas opened up the night with All-American honors, taking eighth-place with a time of 43.69. Texas clocked the second-best 4x100m relay time in school-history (42.84) and the fastest in 14 years for the Longhorns in the semifinals. Georgia Wahl was the only other Longhorn in action on Saturday as she recorded a mark of 12.84m (42-1½) to finish 21st in the triple jump.
Last night, the men's program earned their best finish since 2015, taking ninth-place with 26 points. Five Longhorns earned first team All-America honors on the week. All totaled, Texas saw seven of its men's competitors earn Top 10 finishes during the NCAA Championship.
Sophomore Tripp Piperi led the way, winning an NCAA title in the shot put by more than a foot. The sophomore set a new personal best (69-3 ¼) on his second attempt, becoming the second Longhorn in the last six years to win the NCAA outdoor shot put title (Ryan Crouser – 2014). His throw was the fifth-best throw on Longhorn record, only trailing the Olympic gold medalist Crouser, who has the top four marks.
Freshman Jonathan Jones shattered his UT 400m record, recording the first sub-45 time (44.64) in Texas history. His fourth-place finish is the best finish by a Longhorn in that event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since Eddie Southern won his one-lap specialty when it was 440 yards in 1959. Jones also broke his own national record for his home-country of Barbados.
Micaiah Harris picked up All-American honors with his fifth-place finish in the 200m (20.13). During the semifinals on Wednesday, Harris broke his own school record he set at the West Prelims, going 20.09, and has now run the three fastest 200m times in program history. Senior Alex Rogers became the first Longhorn steeplechaser to earn points in that event since 2009, finishing sixth with a time of 8:43.29. O'Brien Wasome used a UT career-best of 16.71m (54-10) to take fifth place in the triple jump and soar for the third-best outdoor effort in UT history. He also became the third-best performer in Texas history with his effort.
QUOTES
HEAD COACH EDRICK FLOREAL:
"I'm very happy with the effort and the 'Texas Fight' that our team showed this weekend. I'm thankful for the hard work that our coaches and support staff put forth in keeping our team in one piece. Although Top 10 finishes on both the men's and women's side is a good place to be, it is not our ultimate destination just a step forward in this journey."
| National Champion | Event |
|---|---|
| Tripp Piperi | Shot put |
| Ashtin Zamzow | Heptathlon |
| All-American | Event |
|---|---|
| Tripp Piperi | Shot put |
| Alex Rogers | 3000m steeplechase |
| Micaiah Harris | 200m |
| Jonathan Jones | 400m |
| O'Brien Wasome | Triple jump |
| Ashtin Zamzow | Heptathlon |
| Teahna Daniels | 100m, 200m, 4x100 |
| Kennedy Simon | 4x100 |
| Zola Golden | 4x100 |
| Serenity Douglas | 4x100 |
Players Mentioned
