The Texas women's track and field teams will be put to the test against some of the most elite college squads in the nation Friday and Saturday at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., at the Tyson Track Center.
Seventeen of the top 25 teams in the NCAA, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches rankings, will be in
attendance.
Though the competition may be stiff, the Longhorns will bring plenty of firepower with four NCAA provisional qualifiers on the team.
Junior All-American Alexandria Anderson and freshman Bianca Knight lead Texas' group of NCAA hopefuls.
The highly-hyped sprinters have another chance to push each other in the 60-meter dash, an event in which they will both compete. The friendly back-and-forth battle has benefited both and driven them to record-breaking speeds.
Anderson edged out her younger counterpart by 0.002 second with a 7.293 finish to Knight's 7.295 two weeks ago at the Houson Indoor, with each breaking the previous meet record of 7.31 seconds.
"Everybody wants to see the speed," said coach Beverly Kearney about her two star sprinters.
Senior pole vaulter Ashley Laughlin met qualifying heights twice this year with two performances of 12 feet, 11 inches. Laughlin wants to reset a school pole vault record at the Tyson Track Center for the third consecutive year.
At the 2007 Tyson Invitational, Laughlin vaulted 12 feet-6 1/4 inches to break the Longhorn record set just a year before. Jordyn Brown, a sophomore thrower, put the shot over 51 feet. This is a career best for Brown and adds her to a group of qualifying shotputters hoping to compete for an NCAA championship.
Kearney maintains that sprints are one of the strongest facets of the Longhorns' team but that every area has to click for the team to be successful. Other areas such as short hurdles need improvement for a well-rounded performance, and Kearney has challenged them all to step up and compete.
"We are really starting to come around," Kearney said. She feels confident that the team has been able to get many mistakes out of the way early on this season.
The Tyson Invitational will serve as proving grounds for many Longhorns as they compete against some of the best athletes in America to see where they stand before the Big 12 Indoor Championships on Feb. 29 and March 1.
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