The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
No. 4/6 Track and Field collect Big 12 Outdoor honors
05.20.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Head coach Edrick Floréal swept Coach of the Year honors, while Kynnedy Flannel and Yusuf Bizimana were recognized as individual student-athletes.
AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 4/6 Texas Track and Field program collected four of the six Big 12 Outdoor end-of-year awards from a vote of the conference head coaches, the league office announced Thursday. Head coach Edrick Floréal swept the Men's and Women's Coach of the Year honors, earning unanimous recognition on the men's side. Kynnedy Flannel was named the Women's Performer of the Year while Yusuf Bizimana earned Men's Outstanding Freshman of the Year accolades.
Floréal led the Longhorns to a sweep of the Big 12 Outdoor conference championships last weekend in Manhattan, Kan. The Big 12 women scored a Championship-record 203 points, while the UT men were victorious with 173 points – the second-most of any men's program in meet history (175 – Texas A&M, 2011). Texas claimed 18 individual conference titles (7 men/11 women) and had 46 student-athletes (26 men/22 women) scored at least one point in 40-of-42 events contested at the conference's outdoor meet.
Both the Texas men and women have been ranked inside the top-10 of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's (USTFCCCA) National Rating Index throughout the 2021 season, with the women climbing as high as No. 2 (March 29) and the men as high as No. 4 (May 17). Texas has consistently been the Big 12's highest-ranked program throughout the Outdoor campaign. This season, the Longhorns have combined to produce 25 NCAA top-20 marks to date, including 16 that rank in the top 10 and a pair of national-leading marks from O'Brien Wasome (Men's Triple Jump) and Tara Davis (Women's Long Jump).
Floréal is the first head coach in league history to sweep the Big 12 Men's and Women's Coach of the Year honors across both the Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field seasons. It is the third time a school has swept the league's Coach of the Year honors, with Texas also being the program to do so previously. Longhorn head coaches Bubba Thornton and Beverly Kearney swept the men's and women's Coach of the Year honors, respectively, during the 1999 and 2006 campaigns.
Flannel, an Alvin, Texas native, earned Big 12 Women's High Point honors at the conference championships this past weekend, scoring 22.5 points for Texas with victories in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, and the 4x100-meter relay. It marked the second-straight Big 12 Outdoor meet that a Longhorn woman completed the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter triple (Teahna Daniels, 2019). Flannel clocked personal-best times in the 100 and 200-meter dashes in Manhattan. Her time of 11.22 (+1.0) in the 100-meter dash gave her sole possession of 10th place in Texas history, while her 22.47 (+1.6) in the 200-meter race broke Teahna Daniels' school record. Earlier in the season, Flannel helped the Longhorns clock a 43.04 in the 4x100-meter relay at the 93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, the ninth-fastest time on UT record in the event.
All three times she has posted as an individual or in relay competition are the fastest in the Big 12 this season and top 15 in the NCAA. Her 200-meter time ranks second nationally and UT's 4x100-meter team is the sixth-fastest collegiately as well. Those two marks also rank fifth and eighth, respectively, in the world during the current campaign.
Flannel is the seventh Texas woman to earn Big 12 Women's Outdoor Performer of the Year honors with her recognition on Thursday. Previously, the honor has been won by Aleah Williams (2000), Sanya Richards (2003-04), Marshevet Hooker (2005), Courtney Okolo (2014) and Morolake Akinosun (2016).
Bizimana, a London, England native, was Texas' top scorer en route to the program's first Big 12 Outdoor Championship since 2017, racking up 20 points with victories in the 800 and 1,500-meter runs. His success in Manhattan made him the first man on UT record to win the 800-meter/1,500-meter double at a conference championship meet. He was also the first Longhorn to win the Big 12's 800-meter crown outdoors since Tevan Everett in 2009, and his 1,500-meter triumph marked the third-straight season a Longhorn has won that event at the conference meet. Sam Worley previously did so in 2018 and 2019. Bizimana climbed to No. 4 in Texas history in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:46.84, while his personal-best 1,500-meter time of 3:42.90 ranks just outside the top 10 at Texas.
His 800-meter time is the third-fastest in the Big 12 this season, while his mark in the 1,500-meter run is the fifth-best by a league competitor. He ranks 11th in the NCAA, and 48th in the world, in the 800-meter run to date this year.
Bizimana is the seventh Texas man to earn Outstanding Freshman honors from the Big 12 during Outdoor season. Previously, the honor has been earned Amar Johnson (1999), Andra Manson (2004), Leonel Manzano (2005), Jamaal Charles (2006), Johannes Hock (2013) and Sam Worley (2018). Bizimana joins Manson (2004) and Manzano (2005) as the only Texas men to earn the Big 12's Most Outstanding Freshman honor indoors and outdoors in the same season.
2021 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Awards
Men's Coach of the Year: Edrick Floréal, Texas**
Men's Outstanding Freshman of the Year: Yusuf Bizimana, Texas
Men's Performer of the Year: Wesley Kiptoo, Iowa State**
Women's Coach of the Year: Edrick Floréal, Texas
Women's Outstanding Freshman of the Year: Ackera Nugent, Baylor
Women's Performer of the Year: Kynnedy Flannel, Texas
**Unanimous Selection
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.
Players Mentioned
