Forty Acres Insider: February 6 - University of Texas Athletics

Chris Del Conte head shot

Longhorn Nation,

Folks, I must say Texas Fight was on full display, and what a week it was for our Longhorns! We came, we laced 'em up, and we conquered. Our Horns were absolutely en fuego — starting with a Women's Hoops victory at No. 13 Baylor that got us fired up on Thursday, down went nine-straight top-25 challengers in Men's & Women's Basketball, Men's & Women's Tennis and Women's Golf. On the courts and the course, didn't matter the challenger, all we did was win no matter what! Meanwhile, Swimming and Diving and Track and Field were doing their thing in triumphant, record-setting style, too. Whether it was a game, match, meet, or our Baseball & Softball fan appreciation events, y'all showed up and showed out like you always do. It was a smorgasbord, an extraordinary display of Texas Fight by y'all. We are so dang lucky to have you!

had ourselves a weekend 🤘#HookEm
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) February 5, 2024

Hey, and speaking of you and an opportunity to celebrate, discuss, and share your thoughts about all the great things we have going on here in athletics, be sure to plan on joining us next Tuesday (Feb. 13) for our Sixth Annual Texas Athletics Town Hall. Our yearly "stakeholders meeting" is always special, and it will be a joy to have it back to an in-person event this time. We're looking forward to sharing the latest in Texas Athletics once again, but just as eager to hear from you! Your feedback is critical to our growth, so please come on out to let us know what you think has worked, where we can keep getting better and any other thoughts and ideas you have. The Town Hall will take place at 6:30 p.m. (doors will open at 6 p.m.) at newly-renovated Hogg Auditorium right in the heart of our great campus. Stay tuned for all the details on TexasSports.com and our social media platforms. We are so grateful for you, your Longhorn pride, passion and spirit, and all of your input is absolutely essential to our success. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU THERE!

Back to the week that was, there was the sensational Sunday at Moody Center with y'all rockin' the packed house in an emphatic 61-54 win over No. 2 Kansas State (in the same week that saw us turn in a dominant 67-55 victory at No. 13 Baylor!). Sunday was extra special with all our Women's Hoops alumni in the house as well, and they sure did have a terrific time! That came on the heels of a thrilling road warrior Men's Basketball take-down of No. 25 TCU on Saturday.

Big shout out & thank you to the 8,300+ fans today in The Moody. @TexasWBB appreciates you so much. You made for a great home court advantage. Our players were so special, Texas Tough! I am so very proud of them. They are incredible competitors.#HookEm #TexasFight
— Vic Schaefer (@CoachVic_UT) February 5, 2024

We celebrated our seniors in Swimming and Diving, Track and Field triumphs went down in record-setting style, Men's and Women's Tennis out-dueled a trio of top-25 foes, and there was an abundance of fan appreciation taking center stage at Baseball and Softball. Women's Golf defeated three top-25 challengers in match play, advancing to the Therese Hession Regional Challenge Championship Match in California, and ended up as co-champs! As it turned out, the only thing that was able to slow down our mojo was mother nature, as the final got rained out. Hey, and I've got to say our Baseball Alumni Game is one of my favorite events on the calendar every year. It's all about family, bringing past and present Longhorns together with all of you — our fantastic fans — on one memorable day. It's a tradition like no other, delivered big-time once again, and exemplified everything that is great about being a Longhorn!

The Texas Baseball Alumni Game is special. pic.twitter.com/yQxTeBNupL
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) February 4, 2024

We can't thank y'all enough for all the time, energy, passion and spirit you bring to our events. We are so, so grateful for each, and every one of our amazing fans — we couldn't do it without YOU! I'm so proud of the yeoman's efforts our athletics staff steadfastly put in to provide the best game day atmosphere for y'all, too. Together, we got this! Last week was such a magnificent time to be a Longhorn, so hey, let's put on our Burnt Orange-best, get those Horns Up high and do it again!!

It all starts on the Forty this week with Men's Basketball hosting No. 14 Iowa State (7 p.m. CT/LHN) at Moody Center tonight. It's our Horns' sixth-straight top-25 opponent (yep, you read that right, back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back top-25 foes). The last two at Moody have been truly electric and came down to the buzzer. We'll need all that energy and juice tonight to provide that great homecourt advantage for our Horns! Then, we can raise the roof again when West Virginia comes to town on Saturday (2 p.m. CT/LHN). With its 21-3 record and No. 7 ranking, Women's Basketball is off to Fort Worth for a Saturday match up with the Horned Frogs (4 p.m. CT/ESPN+). Women's Tennis takes dead aim on the ITA National Indoor Championship beginning with the round of 16 in Seattle on Friday, while our men host Florida at the TTC on Saturday (1 p.m. CT). Men's Golf takes its game to the island at Hawaii and the Amer Ari Invitational later this week, as well. Softball opens its season out west in LA on Friday-Sunday, while Swimming and Diving travels to Dallas to face SMU.

longhorns on the road🤘#HookEm | @Seatgeek pic.twitter.com/k4vjoLkq3N
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) February 5, 2024

Hey, and here's to Super Bowl Sunday. It was so sad to see our guy Charles Omenihu injured in the AFC Championship game after making a strip sack of Lamar Jackson in that one. We'll miss seeing him on the field this week in Vegas, but what a year he had, and he'll be a part of that World Championship if the Chiefs do it again. Then we got our very own Longhorn Letterman Kyle Shanahan coaching up the 49ers on the other sideline. Talk about pride and winning tradition, it's the second Super Bowl for Coach Shanahan, and he and Tom Landry, who coached the Cowboys to five Super Bowls, are phenomenal Texas Exes turned Super Bowl head coaches. Fifty-eight Super Bowls and a Longhorn has been a head coach in seven of them, that's pretty cool! It's the 18th time in the last 19 years that a Horn has been in the big game, and we're guaranteed there will be a Longhorn raising that Lombardi Trophy. We all know, what starts here changes the world my friends!!

And before we get to all the weeks notes, talk about a PROUD LONGHORN! We've got to give a big shoutout (and gracias for his shoutout!) to Phil Dawson, who was honored as a member of the Senior Bowl's 75th Anniversary team last Saturday. Phil's a champion in every way, and I second his "HOOK 'EM ALL DAY LONG"! We're so lucky to have him as Longhorn for Life!

Longhorn Legend Phil Dawson at the Senior Bowl as a member of the Senior Bowl 75th Anniversary Team 🤘@phil_dawson_4 x @seniorbowl pic.twitter.com/HnWN1hfqVO
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) February 3, 2024

Men's Basketball hosts pair of Big 12 games in The Mood this week!

Our Longhorns are coming off an impressive 77-66 victory at No. 25 TCU on Saturday in Fort Worth, led by a 13-2 run orchestrated by our guy Mid-Court Max to close out the game. That contest marked the fifth-straight contest against a ranked opponent, and our guys are 3-2 during this current stretch. Have to give a shoutout to Coach Rodney Terry who earned his 200th career victory as a collegiate head coach with the win over the Horned Frogs! RT and our guys play its SIXTH-straight game against an AP-ranked opponent TONIGHT against No. 14 Iowa State in Moody Center (7 p.m. CT/LHN), marking the first time in program history that we've ever faced six straight ranked opponents. Longhorn Nation, you have definitely brought it the last two home games, and we need you to pack The Mood again and give our guys the best home court advantage in the nation! Following tonight's game, our Longhorns are back in Moody Center on Saturday to host West Virginia (2 p.m. CT/LHN), so make plans to support our guys twice this week here in Austin!

how about them Horns 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/3WcYdJdE7L
— Texas Men's Basketball (@TexasMBB) February 6, 2024

Women's Basketball back in the top 10!

What a week for our Women's Basketball program! After a pair of impressive top-10 wins, our Longhorns are now ranked No. 7 in The AP poll. Vic Schaefer's crew went into Waco on Thursday night and took down No. 13 Baylor! The Horns then returned home and beat No. 2 Kansas State on Sunday. Thank you to the fans that brought the energy with over 8,000 in attendance in The Mood for the game against the Wildcats. Congrats to Madison Booker, who was selected the USBWA National Player of the Week! Texas is on the road at TCU on Saturday (4 p.m. CT, ESPN+), but go ahead and make plans now to attend our next home game on Saturday, Feb. 17 (3 p.m. CT, ESPN2) against Iowa State.

HOW WE FEELIN'? 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/gCECgV2DwF
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) February 4, 2024

Baseball opens the spring with Alumni Game and Fan Appreciation Day!

Last Saturday was a special day at UFCU Disch-Falk Field, as Baseball held its annual Alumni Game and Fan Appreciation Day. We were so thrilled to welcome back 25 of our alums currently playing professionally. The Longhorns took on the Texas Exes and had a thrilling rally to win the game, 7-4, in front of an awesome crowd. Now it's just about time to get the regular season started, as Opening Day is right around the corner on Feb. 17 against San Diego.

First pitch incoming for Softball!

What a turnout for last weekend's Fan Appreciation Event! Thank you all for coming out and meeting the team. And now it's that time as Softball season is finally here! Our season begins in Los Angeles with a pair of games on Friday when our No. 8/5 Longhorns square off against San Diego (2:30 p.m. CT/12:30 p.m. PT) and No. 10/8 UCLA (8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PT/ESPN). The three teams will square off against each other, again, on Saturday, but this time in Irvine, Calif., with contests against San Diego (5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT) and UCLA (8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PT), and both games will be streamed on FloSoftball. The West Coast trip will conclude on Sunday against Loyola Marymount (2 p.m. CT/Noon PT). The home opener is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 21 against Houston Christian (5 p.m. CT/LHN), and I know you're excited to join me at Red & Charline McCombs Field to watch this year's squad.

so good to be back in front of y'all 🫶🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/qwp32RiPpR
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) February 3, 2024

Tennis Trifecta

What it weekend it was for our tennis squads – three ranked teams came to Austin and all three were turned away at the hands of our Longhorns with Coach Joffe and our Women's team taking down two of them, and Coach Berque and our Men's team capping it with another. Let's start with our women, who in just a smidge more than 24 hours swept No. 25 Wisconsin with authority, 7-0, on Saturday, and then took care of a top-five team in No. 4 Georgia, 4-3, on Sunday. They actually clinched at 4-2 when Taisiya Pachkaleva closed out a big three-set comeback. That was one her four combined singles and doubles wins in the two matches, which picked her up a nod as Big 12 Player of the Week! Way to go, Taiya (as the team calls her)! And a big HOOK 'EM to the whole group for an awesome effort with so many clutch performances all around! Both of those matches were played at our Weller indoor facility, which was great prep with them now heading out to Seattle for the ITA National Indoor Championships starting Friday! After that huge Georgia W, our staff booked it on over to the Texas Tennis Center to get the men started where another stellar crowd filled the stands, and just like you showed out, so did our lads, who didn't disappoint with a 4-1 victory over No. 15 Stanford. I can tell you, we're all so appreciative of the atmosphere you create at the TTC, and none more so than our coaching staffs and players on both teams. It's a special place to watch college tennis, and you make it that way! It was another great team effort and might have even been 6-1 if we'd played it out with leads on the two unfinished courts! And as much as it was a team effort, I do have to give a special shoutout to my man Cleeve who clinched in doubles with Eliot and then got it done for singles, too! I gotta tell you, there can't be many players in all of college tennis who get you more fired up than watching Cleeve-O put up a W! Wow, does he come at you with all the energy and intensity! And that's what we'll need again from you this Saturday as another tough test comes to the TTC in the Florida Gators, so bring your Burnt Orange passion and pride, and let's put over one more win!

Indoor Track and Field records NCAA-leading marks and climb in rankings

Our Indoor Track and Field program is really on the move lately. Both the men's and women's teams climbed to No. 4 in the USTFCCCA rankings after an incredible weekend of performances in Albuquerque. Our guy, Leo Neugebauer, aka Leo the German, is ready to put on a show this season. In his first heptathlon of the year, Leo broke his own Texas program record with 6,219 points – the No. 5 performance in NCAA history and ranks fifth in the WORLD! The women were led by our junior jumper Ackelia Smith who flew for 6.85m (22-5.75), the No. 2 mark in the world this year! With just two weeks out from their first conference meet of the season, coach Flo has got our teams looking right!

Another day in the life of @le0thegerman 🤘#FloKnows x #HookEm pic.twitter.com/uFbsaNGnXq
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) February 3, 2024

Swim & Dive dominates in final home meets

Our Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving squads wrapped up their home schedule in style last weekend, collecting a combined 29 victories over TCU in long course racing on Friday before the women's squad put together some of the fastest swims in the nation at the annual Sterkel Classic on Saturday. The Horns kicked off Friday's action by honoring our seniors on Senior Day, then celebrated them with win after win after win. Kelly Pash, Bridget O'Neil and Angie Coe each won a pair of events for our second-ranked women's squad, while Noah Duperre, Cole Crane, Alec Enyeart and Camden Taylor won two apiece for our No. 9 men's team. At the Sterkel Classic, Kelly and Olivia Bray put together two of the three fastest 200 butterfly swims this season, while Anna Elendt clocked the third-best 200 butterfly in the nation! Oh, and Cole and Camden weren't done earning wins for the men, as each added two more dubs each at the Sterkel Classic. Both squads will head up to Dallas this Friday to face SMU for one final regular-season dual meet before they look to defend their Big 12 crowns at the end of this month in West Virginia.

All smiles on the Forty 😁🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/m58OntOlC9
— Texas Women's Swimming & Diving (@TexasWSD) February 5, 2024

What a weekend at the TSC 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Yv4olQoZio
— Texas Men's Swimming & Diving (@TexasMSD) February 5, 2024

Women's Golf opens spring slate with first-place finish in California

Our No. 8 Women's Golf team was back in action in southern California over the weekend and they showed why they are going to be a top team this season! The Horns took down No. 5 USC, No. 10 Florida and No. 24 Arizona State for a 3-0 mark in match play. Freshman Farah O'Keefe and junior Bohyun Park both went undefeated in their matches. Up next is the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate from Hilton Head, S.C. on March 4-6, and the tourney will be televised on Golf Channel.

Shoutout to the "Voice of the Longhorns"

We've always known that our legendary "Voice of the Longhorns," Mr. Craig Way, is the best of the best. Craig recently to his list of awards and accolades by being named the Texas Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sports Media Association (NSMA). Craig and the rest of the award winners will be recognized during the organization's 64th awards weekend and national convention this summer in North Carolina.

Congratulations to Craig Way on being named the Texas Sportscaster of the Year!

It's the second time the "Voice of the Longhorns" has been recognized as the Texas Sportscaster of the Year by the @NSMASportsMedia

Listen to Craig Way on weekdays from 2-5 pm!#HookEm @Hornvoice pic.twitter.com/Sln12YxU7Q
— AM 1300 The Zone (@am1300thezone) January 24, 2024

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

P.S. – Need to give some love to our 14-time NBA All-Star, KD!

14x All-Star: Kevin Durant 🤩 pic.twitter.com/AP4DnlUn88
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) January 26, 2024

P.S. – Did you see superstar Tara Davis jump to the world lead?

She's taking it 😤@tar___ruh starts her year with a bang as she leaps out to a world-leading 6.86m in the women's long jump. pic.twitter.com/5IG7dvRm9p
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) February 4, 2024

P.S. – So proud of our guy Dylan Frittelli!

So proud of our guy @Dylan_Frittelli !!!

A true competitor and winner in all phases of life 🤘#TakeDeadAim

pic.twitter.com/tXwgCnXyQs
— Texas Men's Golf (@TexasMGolf) February 4, 2024

P.S. – Julien Alfred hasn't slowed down a bit has she? Two world leads in her season openers in the 60-meter and 200-meter!

Julien Alfred 🤝 Albuquerque

Two world leads for Juju:
60m - 7.04
200m - 22.16 pic.twitter.com/j1iaU05FOX
— Texas T&F/XC (@TexasTFXC) February 4, 2024

P.S. – What starts here!

I lived in room 2713 at Dobie between 1983-84 and it's where I started @DellTech. Only great memories! 🤘🥰 #PlayNiceButWin https://t.co/OPUEAcpS1X
— Michael Dell (@MichaelDell) February 4, 2024

HEADLINES

Pachkaleva named Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week

Abmas named Big 12 Men's Basketball Newcomer of the Week

Women's Basketball's Booker earns Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors

Video: Men's Basketball media availability (Feb. 5)

Atkins named to USA Basketball Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament roster

No. 8 Women's Golf advances to championship match with 3-2 victory over No. 10 Florida

No. 8 Women's Golf takes down No. 24 Arizona State, No. 5 USC

Dylan Frittelli wins Bahrain Championship

Tucker set for Pro Bowl

Track and Field led by Blazevica and Smith with event wins at NM Collegiate Classic

Video: Women's Basketball media availability (Feb. 2)