 "Photo: May-Ying Lam")
Fresh off a third-place finish at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Longhorns are heading to Des Moines, Iowa, and looking to establish themselves on the national level at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Longhorns, who finished third at the Indoor NCAA Championships earlier this year, will send 10 competitors to Iowa this week to try to match their earlier national performance.
Jacob Hernandez, who set NCAA Midwest Regional record, track and UT records in winning the 800-meter run last month at the Midwest Regional in Lincoln, Neb., leads the 10 qualified Longhorns into the NCAA Championships. Hernández, who also won the Big 12 Outdoor title in the 800-meter run in May, will be looking for the championship three-peat this week in Iowa. Hernández's record-setting regional run ranks him first heading into the NCAA Championships.
"We've known for a while now that Jacob had that kind of race in him," said Bubba Thornton, Texas men's head coach. "It was just a matter of when he was going to put it together. He did that [at the Regional] and now he's the school record holder in the event. We'll expect him to carry that momentum into the national meet."
Leo Manzano, a three-time NCAA indoor champion, is looking for his first outdoor title after becoming the first athlete to win the same event four times at an NCAA Regional by winning the 1500-meter run in 3 minutes, 40.35 seconds.
"At times, I don't think Leo gets enough credit for what he has done this season," Thornton said. "He has won so much that it is almost expected at this point. Winning four regional titles is an outstanding accomplishment."
Manzano, like Hernández, heads into the Championship ranked first in his event - a Texas national championship two-step in the mid-distance races could improve the No. 8 Longhorns' national chances. Manzano will be joined in the 1500-meter run by fellow Longhorns Kyle Miller and Darren Brown. If the three Longhorns can pace each other and secure good finishes, Texas can catapult into competing for the top team finishes in the nation.
Texas decathlete Donovan Kilmartin, a three-time NCAA Champion in the Indoor Heptathlon, will seek to best his fifth-place finish at last year's championships. Freshman pole vaulter Maston Wallace, and junior high jumper Raymond Harris will also try to earn the Longhorns points in the field events.
