Best moments from 2019-20 in Texas athletics

By Riley Zayas

While the 2019-20 year in Texas athletics, and just about everything else in the country and in many parts of the world, had a sudden and abrupt end in a year that still had volumes to be written, there were many memorable moments that are worth looking back on to remember just how much success the Longhorns enjoyed over these past seven months.

Football: Alamo Bowl win over Utah
As a team that didn’t quite meet preseason expectations headed into the bowl season, the Longhorns, who were 1-3 on the 2019 campaign against ranked opponents, found themselves facing the No. 11 Utah Utes in the Valero Alamo Bowl, a game in which Texas was projected by many experts to lose, but instead took down the Utes, 38-10. The Longhorns dominated the game in front of a largely pro-UT crowd in dominating fashion. Quarterback Sam Ehlingher tossed three touchdowns and ran for another on his way to the MVP honors.

Men’s basketball: Late-season five-game win streak
All hope for Texas to make the NCAA Tournament seemed lost heading into the final six games of the regular season, which turned out to be the final six of the entire season. The Horns reached into the hat and pulled out a win streak that surprised experts across the nation. It started with a 70-56 home win over TCU that ended a four-game losing streak. That victory [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]was followed by a road win over Kansas State in front of a national audience, and then the big surprise, a 67-57 shocker at the Erwin Center as Texas rolled over then-No. 20 West Virginia, a team to which the Longhorns had lost by a 38-point margin, 97-59. Scoring 22 points perhaps was what set guard Andrew Jones on fire, as he became the go-to guy in a victory in Lubbock over Texas Tech, once again getting revenge against a Big 12 foe. That was capped off with another victory, this time against Oklahoma, which was defined by a shot that will be remembered by Texas hoops fans for years to come: with mere seconds left, Matt Coleman put hit a deep three to put Texas ahead for good in the 52-51 win.  

Women’s basketball: Upset of No. 1 Stanford
After a rough start to the season, losing three of its first four games, the Texas women’s basketball team defeated No. 17 Tennessee on the road and returned for a Dec. 22 showdown against top-ranked Stanford. In front of their home fans, the Longhorns pulled off a surprising 69-64 victory in which they outscored the Cardinal, 23-17, in the fourth quarter. Texas forward Charli Collier was far and away the star of the game, posting a double-double with 20 points and 19 rebounds.

Baseball: Best start in program history since 2009
In their first nine games of the 2020 season, the Longhorns did not experience a loss once, making it the best start for the program since 2009. After starting the season with a series sweep on the road against Rice, the Horns returned to “The Disch” for back-to-back single-game showdowns in which they topped UT-San Antonio and Lamar, scoring six runs in each ballgame. Then came the home series opener against Boise State, in which the Horns outscored the Broncos, 16-6, in another series sweep. The final victory in UT’s dominant stretch came in a 4-1 home win against Sam Houston State, in which lefty pitcher Pete Hansen earned the win.

Softball: Upset of No. 1 UCLA
There was no better way for the Longhorns to show the nation that they deserved the No. 1 ranking than to go out and defeat the top-ranked team in the country, which is exactly what they did in that Feb. 27 game in Los Angeles. In the single-game road showdown against the Bruins, the Longhorns’ power at the plate proved to be the difference in a hard-earned, 6-4 win that was decided in eight innings. No Longhorn rose to the occasion more than All-America Miranda Elish, a former Pac-12 pitcher during her days at Oregon before she transferred to UT. Elish started in the circle, striking out seven and keeping the hard-hitting Bruins scoreless for the final three frames. At the plate, she was just as strong, going 2-for-4 and scoring two runs. The Bruins took an early lead in the first on a sacrifice fly, but the Horns quickly responded, taking the lead on a sacrifice fly by Janae Jefferson. Taylor Ellsworth hit a two-run homer in the fourth to bring the lead to 4-2.

Men’s swimming and diving: 41st Big 12 title
A dynasty has long been in the making when a program takes its 41st straight conference title. Although the Horns did not get a go at the NCAA Championship because of the season being stopped prematurely because of the coronavirus, they finished the season atop the national rankings at No. 1. It was a fitting end to a season in which they were not defeated, even against ranked opponents such as Texas A&M and Kentucky. The Big 12 Championship kicked off with a phenomenal performance from the 200-yard medley relay team, which took first with a time of 1:23.21, setting a Big 12 Championships record. From that point on, Texas proceeded to win every single event. Diver Jordan Windle put on a clinic, winning both the 3-meter and platform diving events. In the pool, Daniel Krueger took first in the sprint (50- and 100-yard) freestyle events in what turned out to be his final meet of his decorated collegiate career. 

Women’s swimming and diving: Eighth straight conference title
Like the men, the women were dominant throughout the season, but never more than in Morgantown, W. Va., at the Big 12 championships, where they took first in 18 of the 21 events, including each of the five relays. With multiple swimmers racing on all five relays, it was set up to be a tough week of competition. But the Longhorns rose to the occasion — especially Olympic hopeful Claire Adams, who not only played a key role on every relay but also took home the title in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke. In addition, UT swept the conference meet honors, with Adams being named Swimmer of the Meet in the final meet of her four-year college career. Finishing the season at No. 10 in the nation, Texas scored 1,012 points during the meet.

Men’s tennis: Stuns Florida in a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2
Texas was ranked No. 2 when it visited top-ranked Florida to start the 2020 season. In its first dual match since the 2019 national championship, UT played one of its best matches in recent seasons, earning the 5-2 win. With a significantly different look from the 2019 national title team, the Horns’ four freshmen made their dual-match debuts in clutch fashion, as two of them, Siem Woldeab and Eliot Spizziri, won their singles matches, as did seniors Christian Sigsgaard and Yuya Ito.

Women’s tennis: Narrow win over North Carolina State
In a top-10 battle on the road in Atlanta, Ga., the women’s tennis team turned to Fernanda Labraña when she was needed most. Locked in a tight battle with No. 8 N.C. State, Labraña earned the critical deciding point in a three-set singles victory, which in turn, gave the Horns their biggest win of the season. Sisters Anna and Bianca Turati lost their doubles match, but each bounced back with a win in singles play, scoring two of UT’s four points on the day. The 4-3 victory came in just Texas’ third dual match of the season.

Men’s golf: First-place finish at The Prestige
The February event in La Quinta, Calif., turned out to be the No. 13 men’s golf team’s “national championship,” as the 2020 NCAA Championship, along with all other spring sports, was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was also the only tournament the Longhorns won in the abbreviated season. Facing three of the country’s top 20 teams, including No. 1 Pepperdine, the Longhorns shot a 20-under par 832 to defeat Pepperdine by six strokes. Senior Spencer Soosman posted a season best of 65 on the third and final day, garnering him a third-place individual finish.

Women’s golf: Domination at White Sands Invitational
It is one thing to win an invitational, but it is another to completely dominate the rest of the field. That is exactly what the No. 2-ranked women’s golf team did in the Bahamas in October, shooting 36-under par 828 to finish 29 strokes ahead of second-place Arkansas, improving by one the program record for total strokes under par. In addition to UT’s team victory, freshman Sophie Guo burst onto the scene, earning her first collegiate victory by six strokes and becoming the first golfer in program history to shoot below 200 for 54 holes when she finished with a 17-under par 199. For the team as a whole, it proved to be the second-best performance for 54 holes (a three-round tournament) in program history.

Rowing: Texas battles Chinese National Team
It is tough to call a scrimmage the best moment of the year, but due to the cancellation of rowing’s entire season, combined with the fact that the opponent was a well-known international opponent, this moment gets the nod. On a breezy February morning in Waco, Texas, the Horns faced off against the Chinese National Team, which had been training in Lady Bird Lake for months in preparation for the 2020 Olympics. No official results were recorded, but head coach Dave O’Neill believed it was a beneficial experience for both teams. “Chinese team head coach Hartmut Buschbacher said it was beneficial for them, and it was very beneficial for us,” O’Neill said. “To have some international competition means a lot and helped us quite a bit.”

Soccer: High-powered offense on display against Grambling State
In perhaps the best display of their efficient, attacking offense, the soccer team went on a tear at home against Grambling State, shutting out the Lady Tigers, 8-0 Sept. 22 in Austin. It was the highest-scoring performance from a Texas team in the past two decades, since the Horns beat Oklahoma State 8-0 in 1997. Midfielders Haley Berg and Julia Grosso each scored twice while goalkeeper Nicole Curry had three saves and posted her 20th career shutout. Three of the Horns’ goals came during a period of 2:47 during the first half. From that point on, the game was out of reach for Grambling State, as Texas scored five more in the second half.

Volleyball: Shutout victory over Baylor
The No. 4 Longhorns defended their home court against No. 1 Baylor, handing the Bears their first loss of the season, and keeping their perfect conference record intact with a 3-0 victory: 25-19, 25-10, 25-19. In front of a passionate Texas crowd of 4,125, the Longhorns tallied 20 blocks, 31 digs and 34 kills. UT outside hitter Logan Eggleston had a day to remember as she went for five aces, five kills and seven digs.

Track and field: Podium Finishes at Big 12 Indoor Championships
The No. 12 women won their 23rd indoor conference title, setting a Big 12 Indoor Championship scoring record with 180.33 points, while the men took third at this year’s Big 12 Indoor Championships at Iowa State’s Lied Recreation Center. The women rolled to victory behind distance runner Kathryn Gillespie, who earned Big 12 titles in the distance medley relay, the mile and the 800, and sprinter Julian Alfred, who won both the 60 meter and 200 meter races. On the men’s side, two-sport athlete John Burt won the 60-meter hurdles, his second straight Big 12 title in the event. Heptathlete Leo Neugebauer made a huge impact in his first collegiate heptathlon, winning the event with 5,848 points.
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