Women’s track wins A&M Invitational; men finish second
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The University of Texas women’s track and field team opened its 2016 indoor season with a dominant victory at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station. The Longhorn men finished second.
Freshmen led the way for the UT women, who won the meet with 122.5 points. In her debut with the Longhorns, Teahna Daniels set s new meet record in the 60-meter dash, winning the event in 7.26 seconds. Senior Morolake Akinosun was credited with the same time, but was determined to have crossed the line less than .01 seconds behind Daniels. Fellow freshman Asa Garcia already ranks sixth in UT history after winning the triple jump with a leap of 42 feet, 1.25 inches.
The Texas men were led by their throwers. Senior Ryan Crouser started his pursuit of a fourth consecutive NCAA championship in the shot put with a winning throw of more than 20 meters, while Alan Zapalac moved into second place all-time in school history when he won the weight throw with a throw of 19.37 meters (63 feet, 6.75 inches).
Texas head coach Mario Sategna said that while he was pleased with his teams’ performances in College Station, the Longhorns can not afford to get complacent after such a strong start to their seasons.
“This is one of four opportunities we have before we go to Ames, Iowa, and defend our Big 12 Championships,” Sategna said. “Don’t take this for granted because the indoor season goes by really fast.”
UT’s BJ Adeokun and ArielJones finished second and third in 8.40 and 8.41 seconds, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles. Freshman Ashley Miller finished in 8.50. Akinosun also finished second in the 200, crossing the line in 23.47.
On the men’s side, A.J. Bailey finished third in the 200, in 21.11 seconds, while Senoj-Jay Givans placed third in the 60-meter dash in 6.65.
