The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Track and Field boasts pair of top-five USTFCCCA Rankings
03.29.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
The Longhorns were slotted at No. 2 on the women’s side and No. 4 on the men’s in the first outdoor rankings of the year.
AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Track and Field program holds a pair of top-five rankings in the first outdoors edition of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) National Rating Index. The Texas women are ranked No. 2 and the men slotted at No. 4 – both teams' highest ranking of the year, either indoors or outdoors.
The second-ranked UT women currently hold 12 top-10 nationally ranked performances following the 93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays this past weekend. Tara Davis headlines that group with a collegiate-record long jump of 7.14m/23-5.25 that shattered Jackie Joyner-Kersee's 36-year-old mark. Kristine Blazevica also boasts the nation's leading score in the heptathlon after tallying 5,813 points in Austin last week. In addition, the Longhorns are ranked second nationally in the 4x100 (43.04) and 4x400-meter (3:28.10) relays. Kevona Davis (200m – 22.93) and Madeline Vondra (10,000m – 33:55.72) both rank fourth nationally to date, while Elena Bruckner is slotted at No. 5 in the shot put (17.19m/56-4.75).
Texas' men open the year at No. 4, its best ranking to start an outdoor campaign since 2016. While the Longhorns only hold five national top-10 marks at this juncture, three are national leaders. Charles Brockman III was the most recent addition to this list, clocking a 49.78 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Texas Relays last Thursday. In addition, Steffin McCarter (long jump – 8.27m/27-1.75) and O'Brien Wasome (triple jump – 17.06m/55-11.75) round out the trio of national-leading Longhorns. The other top-10 marks for UT to date are the third-ranked 4x400-meter relay (3:01.28) that set a school record at the Relays on Saturday, and eighth-ranked Cruz Gomez in the 1,500-meter run.
The Longhorns are scheduled to return to action this weekend with a dual meet against No. 2/6 Texas A&M on Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Competition between the rival programs is set to get underway at 10 a.m. CT.
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