Track & Field trio secure IAAF World Championships bids

DES MOINES, Iowa – Three more Texas Track & Field stars secured their bids to the IAAF World Championships on Sunday during the final day of competition at the 2019 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. With volunteer coach Valarie Allman (discus), 400-meter hurdler Ashley Spencer and shot-put legend Michelle Carter all advancing to Doha, there are now 11 Longhorns scheduled to compete in nine events at the World Championships this fall.

Allman is part of a quartet of UT volunteer coaches that will compete for Team USA in Doha. She won the discus national title on Sunday (64.34m/211-1) to clinch her second World Championships bid. Keni Harrison, the world-record holder (12.20) in the 100-meter hurdles, won the national championship on Saturday with a 12.44 (-1.2) mark to secure her third trip to the World Championships (2015, 2017). Shakeela Saunders joined her with a bronze-medal performance in the long jump, while Kori Carter earned an automatic bid to Doha as the reigning world champion in the 400-meter hurdles.

Thirteen-time USTFCCCA All-American and two-time NCAA national champion Ashley Spencer joined Carter in qualifying for the 400-meter hurdles on Sunday. The Texas Ex matched her personal best in the final, running the event in 53.11 to finish third and secure her spot with Team USA. Spencer brought home a bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Olympic Games and is a former world champion, as she helped the American 4x400-meter relay team win gold at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia.

The final Longhorn to qualify for the World Championships on Sunday was shot-put great Michelle Carter, who threw a season-best 18.69m/61-4 mark to finish second in the women's shot put. Carter, a three-time Olympian and 2016 Olympic gold medalist, is one of the most successful track and field stars in UT history. During her time on the Forty Acres, Carter was a seven-time All-American in the shot put and won the Big 12 Conference title five times.

There were a number of Longhorns who were left on the cutting room floor though, with none closer to a qualifying spot than Teahna Daniels.

Daniels, who won the 100-meter national championships on Friday, was chasing the elusive sprint double on the final day of the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. She ran a 22.83 (-1.8) on Sunday in the 200 meters to qualify for the final later in the evening. Daniels improved on her time in the final, finishing in 22.73, but was bested by Angie Annelus – the 2018 and 2019 NCAA Outdoor 200-meter champion – by two one-hundredths of a second for third place.

Despite falling short of the sprint double, Daniels' week in Des Moines was still an immense success. Her title-winning effort on Friday made her the first Longhorn to win the 100-meter crown since Carlette Guidry in 1991. Daniels, an Orlando, Fla. native, was a 10-time All-American while competing for The University of Texas, making her one of just 20 women in program history to achieve that feat.

Steffin McCarter was another Longhorn who fell just short of qualification, as his 7.89m/25-10.75 (2.6) mark in the long jump placed him sixth among a stacked field. McCarter launched himself 8.25m/27-0.75 earlier this month in Chula Vista, Calif., to join two-time NCAA Outdoor long jump champions Eric Metcalf and Marquise Goodwin as the only 27-footers in Texas history.

In the heptathlon, Texas Ex Ashtin Zamzow racked up 2,455 points in the final three events on Sunday. She launched herself 5.74m/18-10 in the long jump, threw the javelin 48.06m/157-8 and ran the 800 meters in 2:17.27 to finish 11^th in the heptathlon with a 5,875 score.

Last month at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, Zamzow became the first heptathlete in school history to win a national title in the event. Her 6,222 mark at Mike A. Myers Stadium broke her own UT record and made her the eighth-best collegiate heptathlete of all-time. She set or matched personal bests in four events (13.33 – 100mH, 24.23 – 200m, long jump – 19-8.75, high jump (1.78m/5-10) en route to becoming only the second heptathlete in NCAA history to win the national championship on her home track. Zamzow was later named the 2019 Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year and a semifinalist for The Bowerman after her title-winning effort.

Micaiah Harris, a Virginia Beach, Va. native, ran a 20.65 in the men's 200-meter semifinals and fell just short of qualifying for the final. Harris was a first-team All-America honoree after a fifth-place finish in the 200 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin and earned a bronze medal in the 200 meters at the NACAC U23 Championships earlier this month.

Anna McDonald rounded out a busy day for the Longhorns in Iowa, as she ran a 10:13.57 in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase final, finishing 12^th in the event. McDonald ran a 10:05.03 in the first round on Friday to advance to the event final.

The 2019 IAAF World Championships are scheduled to begin Sept. 28 in Doha, Qatar.

Longhorns to Qualify for IAAF World Championships (through July 28)

Name	Event	Country	Years at Texas
Valarie Allman	Discus	USA	2019^
Morolake Akinosun	100m	USA	2014-16
Kori Carter	400m Hurdles	USA	2019^
Michelle Carter	Shot Put	USA	2004-07
Ryan Crouser	Shot Put*	USA	2012-16
Teahna Daniels	100m*	USA	2016-19
Keni Harrison	100m Hurdles*	USA	2019^
Jonathan Jones	400m*	Barbados	2019
Courtney Okolo	4x400m Relay	USA	2016-19
Shakeela Saunders	Long Jump	USA	2019^
Ashley Spencer	400m Hurdles	USA	2014-15

*National Champion ^Texas Track & Field Volunteer Coach

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Track & Field trio secure IAAF World Championships bids

Players Mentioned

Teahna Daniels

Micaiah Harris

Jonathan Jones

Steffin McCarter

Anna McDonald

Ashtin Zamzow