The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Texas Invitational
No. 6/4 Track and Field shines on opening day of Texas Invitational
04.30.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Tara Davis produced a historic women’s long jump series and the Longhorns seven events.
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 6/4 Texas Track and Field program opened the Texas Invitational with strong performances on Friday, led by a historic women's long jump series from collegiate-record holder Tara Davis.
Davis, an Agoura Hills, Calif. native, posted four of the top-six jumps in Texas history, and three of the top-15 in NCAA history, at Mike A Myers Stadium on Friday. She opened with a 6.77m/22-2.5 effort on her first attempt, the sixth-longest on Texas record. Davis fouled on her second attempt, her lone miss, but followed it by posting the ninth (6.92m/22-8.5), third (6.97m/22-10.5) and 14th (6.85m/22-5.75) longest jumps in NCAA history to win the event. She closed with a mark of 6.16m/20-2.5 on her final attempt.
In total, the Longhorns won seven events on the opening day of the Texas Invitational. Those wins were in the men's and women's javelin, the men's 1,500-meter run, the men's and women's 5,000-meter runs, the men's javelin and Davis' effort in the long jump.
Gabby Kearney won the women's javelin with a collegiate-best throw of 50.70m/166-4. Her mark moved her up to seventh on Texas' top performers list in addition to being her first collegiate win as a Longhorn. Bennett Inoff was victorious in men's javelin action with a personal-best throw of his own, throwing the javelin 58.69m/192-6.
Cruz Gomez picked up the win in the 1,500-meter run for the Texas men, clocking 3:42.40 en route to victory. His time was a lifetime-best and ranks just outside the top-10 on Texas' top performers list in the event.
His was the first of three distance wins for the Longhorns, with Texas sweeping the 5,000-meter runs following Gomez's triumph.
In the women's race, Kathryn Gillespie clocked 16:45.04 to pick up the win and was followed by Longhorns in four of the next five finishers. Alexa Rodriguez took second, Ava Peeples third, Isabel Hebner fourth and Kelsie Vicknair sixth.
Abraham Avila-Martinez was the winner of the men's counterpart in the final race of the night, clocking 14:38.84 en route to victory. He was followed by fellow freshman Rodger Rivera (third) and Samuel Bass (fourth) in the six-man race.
Sean Stavinoha added a victory for Texas in men's discus competition, throwing a personal-best 53.62m/175-11. It was Stavinoha's first discus win and his fifth performance of more than 50 meters so far this season.
Due to expected inclement weather in the Austin area, Saturday's schedule for the final day of the Texas Invitational has been moved up. Field events kick off with the women's hammer throw at 9:30 a.m. CT with action on the track picking up at 10:30 a.m. CT. Follow @TexasTFXC on Twitter for further updates on any potential schedule changes.
Players Mentioned
