By Riley Zayas
Men’s track and field wins Razorback Invite
The men’s track and field team was on the road against an SEC rival this past weekend, winning the Razorback Invitational, hosted by Arkansas. Texas won the meet with 79 points, edging Oregon with 75 and Arkansas, which had 73. UT did it in clutch fashion too, as the meet was won on the final event of the day, the 4×400 meter relay, in which the Texas team of Jon Maas, Jonathan Jones, Micaiah Harris and Moyo Oyebamiji outran the field of opponents that included Florida, Oregon and Arkansas. The Longhorns beat runner-up Florida by .21 seconds, one of the narrowest margins of victory all day.
The Texas women’s 4×400 relay [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]squad came in third in a nailbiter to score six points, and the Texas women’s distance medley team finished the longest relay of the meet in fourth, scoring five points.
On the men’s side, Harris also in the 200-meter dash, taking the top spot to claim 10 points for the team, and beating Terrance Laird of LSU by just .28 seconds.
Jones, who has the No. 3 ranking in the NCAA this season in the 400 meters, won that race by half a second, with an impressive time of 46.04.
Talk about starting off the season well: Texas freshman Crayton Carrozza posted the fifth-fastest mile in program history, and topped that off with a third-place finish in the 800 meters, in 1:50.21.
Sprinters receive honors following strong performances in Arkansas
Thanks to her phenomenal performance, sophomore sprinter Julian Alfred was added to the watch list for the Bowerman Award, college track’s top honor. She has posted the nation’s top time in the 60-meter dash, 7.10 seconds, which is the second-fastest time in the world this year.
Micaiah Harris, who played a key role in the men’s 4×400-meter relay win last weekend, was named the Big 12 Men’s Athlete of the Week. Alfred broke his own school record on his way to a time of 20.49, the best in the world this year.
Swimming and diving wins two meets in Arizona
The swimming and diving teams sprinted their way back into racing form this past weekend in the Copper State, as they took on Arizona and Arizona State in dual meets on consecutive days. The No. 1-ranked men dominated the No. 13 Sun Devils Friday, 184-109.
Among UT’s 13 total victories, diver Jordan Windle took home both individual titles in the diving events. It was also the Longhorns’ fourth victory of the season over a ranked opponent. The No. 10 women also earned the “W” against the Sun Devils, 177-117. Kelly Pash won three individual events, in the 200 fly, the 100 fly and the 200 individual medley
The men also claimed a victory Saturday over Arizona, 184.5-115.5, sweeping the podium in the 200 back-backstroke. In addition, the 200 medley relay was won by the Horns, by two seconds. The women fared just as well, as strong performances from the divers helped them secure the 178-105 win. Alison Gibson winning the 1-meter springboard, and Paola Pineda the 3-meter.
Next up, both teams will face SMU at 4 p.m. Friday in Dallas.
Black History Month on the Forty: Andre Robertson
Each week, Horns Illustrated will include a short profile on a former student-athlete for the Horns who made an especially big impact while wearing the burnt orange and white.
When Andre Robertson, then a 150-pound senior at Orange High in Orange, Texas, first visited the Forty Acres in 1975, he was torn. A phenomenal athlete, Robertson starred on Orange’s football team as the starting quarterback, as well as on the baseball team as a great hitter and shortstop. With offers to play either sport at UT, Robertson had no idea which he should pursue at the next level.
Ultimately, after getting a close-up look at the weight room and size of the guys on the football team, combined with the recent success of the baseball team, the young athlete was swayed in the direction of the baseball diamond, where he’d go on to star from 1977-79, and lead the team to a College World Series appearance in 1979. In the process, he broke down a barrier, becoming the first African-American to earn a baseball scholarship at Texas.
His success didn’t stop there, though. He continued his pro baseball career all the way to the Major League level, becoming, in many people’s opinions, the best New York Yankee shortstop since the Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto.
Home game times announced for Texas baseball
The long-awaited home game times for the 2020 Texas baseball season have finally been released, as the school announced them Tuesday afternoon. The home opener against UTSA will be at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 18. Each of the midweek games has a scheduled first pitch at 6:30 or 7 p.m., with the exception of a 4 p.m. game Feb. 19 against Lamar. Headlining the 11 mid-week home games is a duel against the Arizona Wildcats, who will come to Austin March 3.
The team’s first weekend series will be against Boise State, with a 7 p.m. first pitch Friday, Feb. 21, 2 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The Longhorn Network will televise 30 of the team’s games, and three others will be nationally televised on ESPN networks, including two of the three games against rival Texas Tech.
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