Spanning from the Gulf Coast up to the suburbs of Dallas, nine schools across the Lone Star State will compete in the Texas Invitational in Austin this Saturday.

With the official heat sheets scheduled to be posted sometime today, the names of 27 UT women are marked down on the meet’s initial roster.

Throughout the all-day event, the Longhorns will take on athletes representing a diverse array of Texas colleges and universities including the University of Houston, Houston Baptist, Rice, as well as other schools belonging to the UT and A&M Systems.

Two weeks after the 85th Annual Texas Relays, Saturday’s Texas Invitational will be the second meet held at Mike A. Myers Stadium this 2011-2012 season.

The Invite will commence Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. with men’s and women’s javelin. Various field events, including the long jump and pole vault, will take place throughout the afternoon and continue into the evening.

Tied for the No. 9 seed in the country, high jumpers Shanay Briscoe and Victoria Lucas will try to surpass their current season-best measurement of 1.81-meters, the stubborn mark has been the glass ceiling — both indoors and outdoors — this year for the pair.

At 4:00 p.m., the running events of the meet will kick off with the women’s 4×100-meter relay — an event in which UT and Texas A&M teams are both nationally ranked in the top 5.

In the 100-meter, Chalonda Goodman, ranked sixth in the event with a time of 11.23, will be joined by five elite athletes: ex-Aggie Porscha Lucas, Nike’s LaShauntea Moore, Adidas’ Tiffany Townsend, Olympic gold medalist Natasha Hastings and former Longhorn Alexandria Anderson.

Later on in the night, No. 3 Goodman will most likely encounter Lucas and Hastings again in the
200-meter dash.

Heading into the evening’s running events, sophomores who are likely to have notable performances include Briana Nelson in the 400-meter open and Danielle Dowie in the
400-meter hurdles.

At 8:30 p.m., the Invitational will conclude for the women with the 1600-meter (4×400-meter) relay. After a third-leg pull that resulted in a comeback to clench a victory at the Relays, a No. 1 ranked Longhorn team will be set on proving, once again, who is the best in Texas. 

Printed on Friday, April 13, 2012 as: More than two dozen set to play in Texas Invitational