The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Big 12 Indoor Championships
No. 7/7 Track & Field wins four titles on day 1 of Big 12 Indoor Championships
02.23.2024 | Track & Field / Cross Country
The Longhorns break three program records on the opening day of the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 7/7 Texas Track and Field programs championed four events on the first day of the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Both the men and women are in second place with the men scoring 35 points after five events and the women with 32 after six.
Senior Kristine Blazevica won her third Big 12 pentathlon competition with a personal-best and UT program-record score of 4,430 points. She now has the top five pentathlon scores in UT history and has now won six Big 12 multi-event titles.
Sophomore Jeremiah Nubbe had one of the most electric performances in the weight throw competition, recording five personal bests on his way to his second Big 12 title in his career. Nubbe won the weight throw on the sixth and overall final throw at 22.79m (74-9.25), breaking Alan Zapalac's six-year program record.
On the women's side, Kiana Lowery added two team points with her throw of 18.14m (59-6.25) in the weight throw.
Texas later swept the long jump events after Leo Neugebauer and Ackelia Smith both claimed the titles on their first jumps, becoming the first Longhorn duo to sweep the Big 12 titles. Neugebauer became the only multi in UT history that has won a multi event and an individual event at the conference meet after his jump of 7.92m (26-0). Neugebauer's first jump of 7.87m (25-10) also would have been good enough for the gold medal. Neugebauer is now tied at No. 5 with Texas Ex Eric Metcalf on the UT All-Time Performer list.
Senior Jathan Belaire added eight team points for the men off his final jump of 7.67m (25-2). Solomon Washington added the final two points in the long jump with his seventh-place finish jump of 7.47m (24-6.25).
Smith won off her first jump of 6.74m (22-1.50), marking her second career Big 12 long jump title. Smith now owns six of the eight indoor long jumps over 22 feet. Freshman Aaliyah Foster added six team points with her third-place finish and a jump of 6.34m (20-9.75).
Kaeli Thompson also scored two points with her clearance of 4.20m (13-9.25) in pole vault. Her clearance moved her to No. 4 on the UT All-Time performer list. Sophomore Eva Jess also tallied two points with her seventh-place finish in the 5,000-meter with a time of 16:20.48. It's the first time in her career she has scored at the conference meet.
The men's distance medley relay of Cole Lindhorst, Chris Brinkley Jr., Daniel Howells and Yusuf Bizimana scored the final five team points for the men after finishing in 9:40.04.
The Longhorns also advanced 17 entries to Saturday's finals. Brian Herron led the group breaking the eight-year Texas 400-meter program record with his time of 45.23, the second-fastest qualifying time of the day. Logan Popelka also qualified with his time of 46.26. The women sent three to the final – Ziyah Holman (52.73), Lauren Lewis (52.78) and Dejanea Oakley (52.85). Oakley will also run in the 200-meter final after posting the fastest qualifying time in 22.90. John Rutledge will also run the 200m after taking the final qualifying time of 20.79.
The 60-meter hurdles will feature both Emelia Chatfield (8.13) and Akala Garrett (8.25) in the women's finals. Kendrick Smallwood (7.83) and Kody Blackwood (7.83) both qualified on the men's side. Garrett will also compete in the 600-yard finals after running the prelims in 1:20.01, while Elijah Mosley advanced on the men's side in 1:09.31.
Smith was the lone Longhorn to advance to the 60-meter dash final after finishing with the third-fastest time and a personal best 7.21. Bizimana will also compete in the 1,000-meter final after qualifying in 2:24.47.
Olivia Howell and Daniel Howells reached their first Big 12 final in the 800-meter with their times of 2:07.02 and 1:49.56, respectively.
Top 5 Men's Teams:
Texas Tech – 36
Texas – 35
Kansas – 32
Oklahoma State – 21
Iowa State – 19
Top 5 Women's Teams:
Oklahoma State – 33
Texas – 32
Oklahoma – 30
Baylor – 27
Kansas State – 22
Players Mentioned
