The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Big 12 Outdoor Championships
No. 6/4 Track and Field claims five Big 12 titles
05.15.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
The Longhorns won five individual conference titles on Saturday in Manhattan.
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The No. 6/4 Texas Track and Field program claimed five individual conference titles at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships on Saturday. As a team, Texas sits in second with 58 points in the men's standings and third in the women's with 49 points after two days of conference action.
Kristine Blazevica claimed Texas' first Big 12 title of the weekend with a 5,947-point effort in the women's heptathlon. Her score ranks as the third-best in school history, fourth in the NCAA this season and No. 20 in the world during the current campaign. It also marked the second-straight season a Longhorn has won the Big 12 Outdoor heptathlon title (Ashtin Zamzow, 2019). Blazevica rose from fourth to first on day two of the event with wins in the long jump (6.29m/20-7.75 | 940 pts) and the 800-meter run (2:14.44 | 901 pts) along with a fourth-place effort in the javelin (39.62m/130-0 | 660 pts).
She entered the second day of the heptathlon 41 points off the lead and won by 175 points. In Friday's action, Blazevica recorded three personal-best marks on opening day, doing so in the 100-meter hurdles (13.77, +1.9), high jump (1.72m/5-7.75) and 200-meter dash (24.93, +2.0). Blazevica also recorded a mark of 12.03m/39-5.75 in the shot put.
Leo Neugebauer later helped the Horns sweep the multis events with a conference-title effort in the men's decathlon. He scored 7,793 points en route to victory, a tally that is fifth-best in the NCAA this season and one that moved him up to No. 9 on Texas' all-time performers list. Neugebauer's victory made him the ninth Longhorn (12th occurrence) to win a decathlon conference title on program record. The German international did so with strong showings throughout the second day of the decathlon.
Neugebauer opened Saturday with back-to-back wins in the 110-meter hurdles (15.10, +0.3 | 837 pts) and discus (48.52m/159-2 | 840 pts). He followed it up by taking second in the pole vault with a personal-best clearance of 4.91m/16-1.25 (883 pts), sixth in the javelin with a collegiate-best throw of 46.41m/152-3 (536 pts) and clocking 5:00.35 (558 pts) in the 1,500-meter run.
On Friday, Neugebauer grabbed hold of the men's decathlon lead on Friday, scoring 4,139 points in the competition's first five events. He picked up three victories in the long jump (7.43m/24-4.5 | 918), shot put (14.53m/47-8 | 761) and 400-meter dash (50.45 | 794) to go with a second-place effort in the high jump (1.99m/6-6.25 | 794) and a fourth-place run in the 100-meter dash (10.95, +2.6 | 872). Neugebauer's performances in the long jump, high jump and 400-meter race were all outdoor collegiate-best marks.
Tara Davis added a third individual Big 12 title for the Longhorns on Saturday, needing only one attempt in the women's long jump to claim the crown. Davis soared 6.97m/22-10.5 (+1.3) on her first trip down the runway and passed through on her next five attempts with the title secured. Her jump is tied for the third-longest in collegiate history and is a mark she has hit exactly on two prior occasions this season. Davis' performance gave her possession of four of the top six outdoor long jump marks on collegiate record. It also helped her become the first Longhorn woman to win a Big 12 Outdoor long jump title since Chantel Malone in 2010.
Tripp Piperi was next to top the podium for Texas at the R.V. Christian Track Complex, as he made a triumphant return from injury to claim his seventh Big 12 shot put title (4 indoor/3 outdoor) in seven tries at conference meets. Piperi's win also came on his first attempt of the afternoon, as he launched the shot 19.75m/64-9.75 on his first competitive throw since the NCAA Indoor Championships. He improved his mark to 19.80m/64-11.5 on his second attempt to extend his lead and climb to No. 16 on the NCAA leaderboard this season. Piperi joins Longhorn legends Dana LeDuc (1974-76) and Ryan Crouser (2013-15) as Texas men to win three-straight conference shot put titles outdoors. His seven combined conference shot put titles are tied with Crouser (4 indoor/3 outdoor) for the most by any performer in school history.
Steffin McCarter completed the quintet of Longhorn winners on Saturday, winning his second Big 12 Outdoor men's long jump title on the final attempt of the day. On that jump, McCarter leaped 8.35m/27-4.75 (+3.0) to reclaim the lead from Oklahoma's Rayvon Allen, who had just passed the leading Longhorn on the jump prior to McCarter's title-winning effort. McCarter's mark ranks as the second-best all-conditions performance on Texas record and is the second-longest in the world this season to date. The jump secured McCarter's second-straight Big 12 title in the event outdoors after also winning in 2019. He is the sixth man in program history to win back-to-back outdoor conference long jump titles, and the first to do so since Marquise Goodwin won three-straight from 2010-12.
In addition to the five conference champions, Texas had eight other student-athletes score a combined 29 points on Saturday. Overall, 18 different Longhorns have scored at least one point for Texas through two days of the Big 12 Championships. Texas has 58 scoring chances in 26 scheduled events for the final day of the conference meet following the Longhorns' strong efforts in qualifying on Saturday.
Kynnedy Flannel had the biggest headline-grabbing performance by a Longhorn in qualifying action, as she claimed the UT 200-meter record and solidified her spot as a top-10 performer in the 100-meter dash. Flannel first opened with a collegiate-best 11.22 in the 100-meter dash, giving her sole possession of 10th place on Texas' top performers list. She followed it up just a short while later by clocking 22.47 (+1.6) to break Teahna Daniels' school record in the 200-meter dash, Flannel's signature event.
Joining her in the Texas record books on Saturday were Yusuf Bizimana and Crayton Carrozza, both of whom did so in the 800-meter qualifying race. Bizimana clocked 1:47.55 in the half-mile prelim, good for the fifth-fastest performer on Texas record, while Carrozza's 1:48.04 ranks seventh in school history.
The Longhorns now turn their attention toward the final day of the 2021 Big 12 Outdoor Championships with eyes on winning both the men's and women's titles on Sunday. The final day of the conference meet is slated to begin at 11 a.m. CT, with live coverage airing on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ beginning at 3 p.m. CT.
Texas Track and Field – 2021 Big 12 Outdoor Champions
Women's Long Jump: Tara Davis
Women's Heptathlon: Kristine Blazevica
Men's Long Jump: Steffin McCarter
Men's Shot Put: Tripp Piperi
Men's Decathlon: Leo Neugebauer
Texas Track and Field – 2021 Big 12 Championship Scorers
Women's 10,000m: Madeline Vondra (6 pts / 3rd place)
Women's 3000m Steeplechase: Kelsie Vicknair (3 pts / 6th place)
Women's Long Jump: Tara Davis (10 pts / 1st place)
Women's Shot Put: Elena Bruckner (5 pts / 4th place)
Women's Hammer: Elena Bruckner (2 pts / 7th place)
Women's Javelin: Rhiley Fritz (8 pts / 2nd place), Gabby Kearney (5 pts / 4th place)
Women's Heptathlon: Kristine Blazevica (10 pts / 1st place)
Men's 10,000m: Haftu Knight (4 pts / 5th place)
Men's 3000m Steeplechase: John Rice (4 pts / 5th place)
Men's High Jump: Jared Dupree (1 pt / 8th place)
Men's Long Jump: Steffin McCarter (10 pts / 1st place), O'Brien Wasome (6 pts / 3rd place), Stacy Brown Jr. (2 pts / 7th place)
Men's Shot Put: Tripp Piperi (10 pts / 1st place), Patrick Piperi (4 pts / 5th place)
Men's Javelin: Bennett Inoff (3 pts / 6th place)
Men's Decathlon: Leo Neugebauer (10 pts / 1st place), Alex Loving (4 pts / 5th place)
WOMEN'S HEPTATHLON CHAMPION
KRISTINE BLAZEVICA, TEXAS
On her performance the last two days...
"I'm really, really happy about my personal best. At first I was hoping for 6,000 points, but I'm really happy that I could get 10 points for my team."
On which events she felt good about today...
"Today I felt great about my long jump because I finally beat my four-year old PR in long jump, and the 800 felt pretty good as well."
On the 800 meter run...
"I was just trying to keep up with them (the other competitors) because I know their personal bests are a little bit better. I realized if I start a little bit slower the first lap, then I have enough to finish strong."
On the final lap of the 800 meter run...
"It was great because I knew two or three girls were sticking around with the same points. So, of course it was a big push to get 10 points."
MEN'S DECATHLON CHAMPION
LEO NEUGEBAUER, TEXAS
On his performance throughout the weekend…
"Overall I'm pretty satisfied with my result because nothing was super bad. Everything was kind of average. I obviously hoped for a little more because you always want more as an athlete, but I'm very happy with the weekend."
On performing in front of a big crowd this weekend...
"It's a whole different feeling because indoors, there was nobody because of COVID and they're much more careful indoors. That's why it's really nice to perform in front of a big audience and to hear somebody cheer you. That motivates you a little bit more."
On winning the Big 12 title in his first season...
"This is my first outdoor season in the U.S. because I'm from Europe. In Europe it's very different, especially decathlon, because we have way more time in between. So it's a whole different feeling, but honestly, this was a really nice competition because everything went kind of fast because there were not too many people."
On the Big 12 competition pushing him in each event...
"Every single competition pushes me and gives me more motivation to get better and better, especially if you see the progress of your competitors. You always want to be on top of them. So every competition motivates me, especially championships."
WOMEN'S LONG JUMP CHAMPION
TARA DAVIS, TEXAS
On the plan to balance the long jump and hurdles...
"It was planned to do one jump and just be done. I had a sprained ankle for the past two weeks, so I just wanted to get that healthy and to do one jump and get ready for hurdles."
On her meet and facility record jump in her only attempt...
"I just got to trust my coach and when he says, 'Once you put out a huge 6.97 it's pretty hard for girls to come and get you.' Ruth (Usoro), she's a competitor and she will come get me when she wants to come and get me so I was a little hesitant, mostly looking back and forth to see if she's jumping anything but this meet, I held my own and came out and hurdles were relaxed at 12.90"
On her health in a unique season...
"My mental health being happy has been the main focus and if my mental health is happy then everything else will come together and if I'm stressed or worried about everything else I'm not gonna be able to perform the best I can and I just came into this meet knowing that it was going to be back to back, and with my coach by my side saying, 'Just get one jump and you're good.' So I did and came out with the W."
MEN'S SHOT PUT CHAMPION
TRIPP PIPERI, TEXAS
On being able to compete after missing most of the season with injury…
"Well, I competed. I'm very blessed to be competing. I had surgery about two months ago after indoor season. I tore the ligaments in my ankle so up until last Tuesday I didn't think I was able to compete. So today was just getting back into the mindset of competing again. Luckily it paid off."
On competing with his brother...
"It's always fun, we have a small sibling rivalry, there's always a little tension there. So, getting back and being able to be with him is very fun. It's always very fun to compete with him. We're always hyping each other up. Today it worked out for both of us. We both had great days."
On the fan support...
"It's a new feeling. It takes me back to two years ago."
MEN'S LONG JUMP CHAMPION
STEFFIN McCARTER, TEXAS
On his emotions during the day…
"Well, knowing I had to run the 100 in between, I was kind of nervous about being able to recover after that and come back through. I was really happy after my second jump, the 26(-10), and I was kind of chill throughout that time. Then, as soon as he (Oklahoma's Rayvon Allen) jumped 8.19, my heart rate went up. I automatically backed up a foot and a half, and I was like, 'You know, this is what it's about. What can you do under pressure?' We saw what happened."
On the excitement of the crowd after his final jump...
"Well, I saw my teammate, Tara Davis, and when she took off running down the bleachers when I landed, and then I looked at my coach and he hit me with a double hand, I was like, 'Oh, I know it's good. I know it's good enough. I don't know what it is, but it's good enough.' That's really all I was concerned about. So I started - I didn't even know what it was. I didn't have any recollection of how it was at all. I saw them celebrating, so I was like, 'I'm going to celebrate and hope it's good!'"
Players Mentioned
