Texas men take ninth at NCAA Track & Field Championships

AUSTIN, Texas — Led by five All-America efforts, the Texas men’s track and field team had its best finish since 2015 with a ninth-place showing at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

It is the highest the Texas team has finished since 2015 under first-year head coach Edrick Floreal. Floreal brought the Longhorns back into the national conversation and competition after Texas came in 36th, 26th and 25th the previous three years before he came on board for the Horns.

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“Although guiding our guys to a Top 10 finish nationally seems like a huge step forward for our program, I still feel like we let an opportunity slip through our fingers,” Floreal said. “Like Ben Crenshaw said on the eve of the Ryder Cup victory, ‘I have a good feeling about this team.’”

Tripp Piperi brought home a national title in shot put for the Horns to lead the way earlier this week, while Jonathan Jones, Micaiah Harris, Alex Rogers and O’Brien Wasome all finished high enough on Friday to earn the All-American status.

Jones flew past his own Texas record and recorded the very first

sub-45-time in Longhorn history in the 400m, finishing with a 44.64 to take fourth place overall. Just a freshman, Jones finish in the 400 is the highest for a Longhorn since 1959 and he now is the owner of three of the top 11 times in the 400m in school history.

In addition, Jones also owns the record for his home country of Barbados along with holding the Texas record.

With a fifth place finish in the 200m, Harris tallied the second-

best time in UT history with a time of 20.13. Astoundingly, the sophomore sprinter holds the record for the top three times in the 200m at Texas, and he broke the school record three separate times this season.

Wasome was fifth in the triple jump and Rogers claimed sixth place in the 3000m steeplechase to also earn All-American honors for the Horns.

“I have faith in these young men and their abilities,” Floreal said. “I have to do a better job of getting them to see and believe in their potential. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder so is belief is in the heart of the head coach.”

The junior Wasome set the third-best UT mark in triple jump with his launch of 16.71m and its his best jump as a Longhorn.

For Rogers, it was the first time a Longhorn scored in the steeplechase since 2009 as he came in with a time of 8:43.29

In all, seven different Texas athletes took a Top 10 spot during the Friday finals. Sophomore Sam Worley came in ninth in the 1500m, missing eighth place by a mere .04 with his time of 3:42.91.

Steffin McCarter came in 10th in the long jump with his mark of 25-5 ½ in Wednesday’s events.

Saturday will see the conclusion of the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Mike A. Myers Stadium with the Texas women’s track and field squad going for several national titles as well.

“I’m looking forward to seeing our women finish strong tomorrow,” Floreal said.

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