No. 12 Women’s Track and Field wins third-straight Big 12 title

02.29.2020 | Track & Field / Cross Country

The Texas women set a Big 12 Indoor Championship scoring record with 180.33 points this week.

AMES, Iowa – The No. 12 Women's Track and Field team set a Big 12 Indoor Championship scoring record with 180.33 points en route to winning the Longhorns' third-straight conference title. It is Texas' 23rd all-time Women's Indoor Track and Field conference championship, and the UT women have now won six of the last seven Big 12 titles indoors.

Leading the way for Texas this weekend was senior distance runner Kathryn Gillespie, who won three Big 12 titles in the distance medley relay, mile and 800-meter run. Gillespie opened her gold-medal trio by winning the DMR title on Friday night alongside Brooke Jaworski, Valery Tobias and Destiny Collins. On Saturday, she topped the podium in the women's mile after clocking a 4:36.89 – the second-fastest indoor mile in school history. Gillespie also holds the school-record mark.

The Dollar, Scotland native capped an incredible weekend by winning the women's 800-meter run in a personal-best 2:06.33. Gillespie was the first Texas woman to win three conference titles indoors since Marshevet Hooker (60m, 200m, Long Jump), but would later be joined by two of her teammates.

Sophomore Julien Alfred also became the first woman to complete the Big 12 Indoor Championship sprint double since Hooker in 2006, as she won the 60-meter dash in 7.15 and later the 200-meter dash in 23.02. They were the first two indoor conference titles of Alfred's young collegiate career.

Beginning with Alfred's sprint double, the UT women won every sprint distance up to 800 meters. Sophomore Kennedy Simon clocked and NCAA-leading 51.81 – also a personal best – in the 400-meter dash, freshman Brooke Jaworski won the 600-yard run in 1:19.14 – the No. 6 performance in school history – and Gillespie capped it off with her 800-meter win.

Alfred, Jaworski and Simon also earned another gold medal as members of UT's winning 4x400-meter relay team. That group – made up by Jaworski, Stacey Ann Williams, Alfred and Simon – clocked a Big 12-leading 3:32.64 en route to victory. It was the third title for Alfred and Jaworski, pulling them level with Gillespie for the team lead.

Rounding out Texas' dominant Big 12 Indoor Championship performance was senior Elena Bruckner, who won her first Big 12 women's shot put title after launching the orb a lifetime-best 16.82m/55-2.25 on her first attempt. The mark, which was the farthest by any Big 12 competitor this season, improved Bruckner's standing as the fifth-best women's shot put performer in Texas history. She is the first UT woman to win a Big 12 shot put title, either indoors or outdoors, since three-time Olympian Michelle Carter in 2007.

On the men's side, the Longhorns finished third in the team standings with 118 points.

O'Brien Wasome led the way for UT, becoming just the second Longhorn ever (Chris Hercules, 1999) to sweep the men's long and triple jump events at the conference meet. Wasome won the long jump Friday night in dramatic fashion, launching himself a personal-best 8.00m/26-3 on the final jump of the day to claim the crown. He won the triple jump Saturday by clearing 16.12m/52-10.75 on his fifth attempt.

In the men's shot put, Tripp Piperi also made Longhorn history by winning his third-straight Big 12 title. He launched the orb and indoor personal-best 20.98m/68-10 to extend his NCAA lead and win the conference crown. Piperi's effort placed him alongside Dana LeDuc (1974-76) and Ryan Crouser (2012, 2014-16) as the only Texas men to win the conference shot put title on at least three occasions.

Senior John Burt also had a repeat performance at the Big 12 Indoor Championship, winning the 60-meter hurdles in 7.71. It marked his second-straight conference title and made Burt the third Longhorn to win multiple conference titles in the 60-meter hurdles and only the second to repeat as champion. Jermaine Cooper (2001-02, '04) and Keiron Stewart (2011, '13) are the other two.

Sophomore Jonathan Jones and junior Micaiah Harris both dominated in their signature events, winning the 400-meter dash and 200-meter dash, respectively, on Saturday. Jones clocked a 45.90 and Harris a 20.65 en route to winning their conference titles. Jones is the fifth Longhorn (seventh instance) to win a conference title in the indoor quarter-mile, while Harris is just the third to do so at 200 meters.

Rounding out UT's gold-medal showings was freshman Leo Neugebauer, who scored 5,848 points in his first collegiate heptathlon to win the Big 12 title. Neugebauer was 157 points clear of his closest competitor in the seven-part competition, and was the top performer in the long jump, shot put and pole vault events. His 5,848-point tally makes him the fifth-best heptathlete in Texas history.

The Longhorns will now turn their focus toward the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be contested March 13-14 in Albuquerque, N.M.

2020 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Champions
Men's 60m Hurdles: John Burt – 7.71
Men's 200m: Micaiah Harris – 20.65
Men's 400m: Jonathan Jones – 45.90
Men's Long Jump: O'Brien Wasome – 8.00m/26-3 (PR)
Men's Triple Jump: O'Brien Wasome – 16.12m/52-10.75
Men's Shot Put: Tripp Piperi – 20.98m/68-10 (PR, CL)
Men's Heptathlon: Leo Neugebauer – 5,848
Women's 60m: Julien Alfred – 7.15 (MR, FR)
Women's 200m: Julien Alfred – 23.02
Women's 400m: Kennedy Simon – 51.81 (PR, CL)
Women's 600yd: Brooke Jaworski – 1:19.14 (PR)
Women's 800m: Kathryn Gillespie – 2:06.33 (PR)
Women's Mile: Kathryn Gillespie – 4:36.89
Women's 4x400m Relay: Brooke Jaworski, Stacey Ann Williams, Julien Alfred, Kennedy Simon – 3:32.64
Women's DMR: Kathryn Gillespie, Brooke Jaworski, Valery Tobias, Destiny Collins – 11:24.53
Women's Shot Put: Elena Bruckner – 16.82m/55-2.25 (PR)