The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA Indoor Championships
Ackelia Smith finishes as NCAA long jump runner-up
03.10.2023 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Julien Alfred breaks her own 60m collegiate record, again
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Sophomore Ackelia Smith of the No. 1 Texas women's track and field team finished the indoor season as the national runner-up in the long jump.
The top-ranked women left the first day of the NCAA Indoor Championships with 12 points and the No. 6 ranked men with one after six of the 17 events completed.
On her fourth attempt, Smith climbed into second-place with her personal-best mark of 6.88m (22-7). She needed her sixth jump to secure the runner-up spot after Claire Bryant of Florida tied it on the fifth attempt. With her final jump of 6.87m (22-6.5), Smith became a three-time First Team All-American and gave the Longhorns a much needed eight points.
Smith now has two of the top-three marks in Texas history behind Tara Davis who held the then-collegiate record with a time of 22-9 in 2021.
Junior Leo Neugebauer finished the first day of the men's heptathlon in third-place with 3,582 points. The score is a personal-best after the first day of the heptathlon for the Germany native. The four-time All-American began with back-to-back season-best marks in the 60m dash (6.99 seconds) and the long jump with a mark of 7.76m (25-5.5). He followed up with a personal-best throw of 16.23m (53-3) in the shot put to finish second overall in the event. Neugebauer closed out the fourth of seven events with a clearance of 2.03m (6-8) in the high jump and will return to the track for the 60m hurdles on Saturday, just 191 points out of first place and 36 behind second.
Kristine Blazevica climbed her way to a fifth-place finish in the pentathlon after winning the 800m with a personal-best time of 2:12.79. Blazevica scored 4,305 points overall after five events after starting the day in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.53 seconds. She matched her season-best in both the high jump clearing 1.66m (5-5.25) and in the shot put throwing for 12.21m (40.75) before finishing fifth in the long jump with a mark of 6.13m (20-1.5). She now has seven of the top-10 finishes in Texas history, including the top three and scored four team points.
Freshman Solomon Washington scored the only point for the men in the long jump, recording a huge personal-best mark of 7.97m (26-1.75). The mark makes Washington the fifth-best performer in Texas history with the 10th-best performance. Friday's results also makes Washington a First Team All-American for the first time in his career.
Julien Alfred continues to write history in the 60m dash having broke her own collegiate record for the fifth time this season with her time of 6.96, shedding .01 off her previous best. Alfred is the long female collegian to ever run sub-seven seconds and has now done it in back-to-back races. The St. Lucia native holds the top-eight fastest time in NCAA history and the top-10 times in Texas history. She'll compete for the 60m title on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. (MT).
Alfred also advanced to the 200m final with the second-fastest qualifying time at 22.38, while Lanae-Tava Thomas claimed the final spot in the final with her time of 22.74. Rhasidat Adeleke, the nine-time All American, earned her spot in the 400m finals with her prelims time of 51.12 – the third-fastest time of the day.
Senior Valery Tobias was the final Longhorn to qualify for a final and did it in record-breaking fashion. For the second time this season, Tobias broke the Texas 800m record with a time of 2:02.07 and now hold four of the top-five fastest times in UT history.
Staying in the 800m, both Crayton Carrozza and Yusuf Bizimana will compete for the title having earned the top-two fastest times in their heats. Carrozza posted the second-fastest time of the day in Heat 1 at 1:47.66, while Bizimana won Heat 2 with a time of 1:49.24.
Players Mentioned
