The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays
Track and Field produce strong performances on opening day of Texas Relays
03.25.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Thursday’s first action at the 2021 Texas Relays was capped off by the Distance Carnival at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
AUSTIN, Texas – The 93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays got underway on Thursday at Mike A. Myers Stadium with combined events taking center stage in the morning and early afternoon before the distance carnival served as the nightcap.
In the multis-events, Texas Track and Field sophomore Leo Neugebauer, competing in his first collegiate decathlon, leads the field by 297 points through five events with a score of 4,297. He finished in the top two of his first four events – finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles (10.93 | 876) and the high jump (2.02m | 829) in addition to winning the long jump (7.55m | 947) and shot put (15.55m | 824) events. His teammate Alex Loving was slotted fifth through three events, but fell to 11th by day's end after not clearing the bar in the high jump. He currently has 2,889 points to his name with five events remaining.
Freshman Kristine Blazevica, fresh off a Big 12 pentathlon title indoors, is in fourth place through four events of the heptathlon, scoring 3,361 points on Thursday. Blazevica's started the day with a 984-point effort in the 100-meter hurdles (13.96) and had her best individual placement in the shot put (3rd) with a throw of 12.25m.
In women's javelin action, Rhiley Fritz finished third in her section with a throw of 47.21m/154-10. It was her second appearance for Texas this season after winning the event at the Longhorn Invitational earlier this month. Fritz's mark on Thursday improved her standing as the No. 8 performer in Texas history.
Charles Brockman III posted an NCAA-leading time in the 400-meter hurdle prelims, clocking 49.78 to break the 50-second barrier first the first time. His mark moves him up to No. 6 on Texas' top performers list and secured his spot in Saturday's final as the fastest competitor in the preliminary heats. In addition to Brockman, UT's Paramveer Chohan (51.87) qualified for the final with the seventh-fastest time on Thursday.
Two Longhorns advanced through to the women's 200-meter finals, with Rhasidat Adeleke and Stacey Ann Williams representing Texas in that race. Adeleke (23.40) and Williams (23.46) each were well below the 24-second mark and finished as the seventh and eighth-fastest in qualifying.
Valery Tobias kickstarted the distance carnival for Texas with a second-place run in the Women's 1,500-meter race (Section B). She clocked 4:28.96 in the event, and was followed by eighth-place finisher Alyssa Duhart as UT's top finishers in the event. Duhart ran the race in 4:35.09. In Section A, freshman Gracie Morris placed fifth at 4:29.72 and Halena Rahmaan took ninth with a time of 4:34.18.
Kathryn Gillespie produced the best 1,500-meter time by a Texas woman on Thursday, doing so with a time of 4:17.94 in the Invitational section. Her time is the fastest by an NCAA competitor so far this season in the event, and ranks her seventh on Texas' top performers list. Her time was the second-fastest by a Longhorn at the Texas Relays, trailing only Marielle Hall's 4:17.10 at the 2014 meet.
As both an individual and member of various relay teams, Gillespie now holds five top-10 marks at Texas despite only competing in the Burnt Orange and White for one season of indoor, and two meets outdoors thus far. In addition to her first outdoor top-10 mark set on Thursday, Gillespie ranks fourth and fifth in the 800 meters and 4x800-meter relay, and holds the school record in the mile and DMR indoors.
Claudine Blancaflor also staked her place in the Texas record book, clocking a time of 10:45.94 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to become the sixth-fastest performer in school history. Blancaflor's time was the fastest by a Longhorn since Anna McDonald set the school record at the 2019 NCAA West Regional Preliminary Rounds and helped her finish in third place Thursday night.
Madeline Vondra added a Texas Relays title to her list of accomplishment, winning the women's 10,000 meters in a lifetime-best time of 33:55.72. Her run is the fastest in the NCAA this season, and moved her up to No. 4 on Texas' top performers list. With the win, Vondra becomes the fifth Texas woman to win the 10,000-meter title at the Texas Relays, joining Erin Keogh (1989), Samantha Dompier (2001), Dawn Domaschk (2003) and Jodi Jones (2004).
On the men's side, freshman Yusuf Bizimana wasted no time cementing his place in Relays lore by winning the 5,000-meter title in a time of 4:12.70. Thursday was the collegiate outdoor debut for Bizimana, who was a mid-year enrollee at UT this spring. During the indoor season, he broke the UT school record in the mile and earned first-team All-America honors in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships two weeks ago.
Haftu Knight closed out the first day of the 2021 Texas Relays for the Longhorns with a fourth-place effort in the men's 10,000-meter race. His time of 29:09.13 bumps him up to ninth on Texas' top performers list.
The 2021 Texas Relays continue on Friday, beginning with action in the high jump, shot put and pole vault at 9:30 a.m. CT. Longhorn Network will have live coverage of the meet beginning at 1 p.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
