The Longhorns will remain in their comfort zone this weekend as they welcome three other Texas teams to Austin for the Longhorn Invitational.

Athletes representing the University of Houston, McMurry and UT-San Antonio will join Texas’ 34 men selected to compete in the one-day competition. Similar to last weekend’s Texas Invitational, the events will be run only on Saturday.

After falling to No. 7 this week in the NCAA 2012 Outdoor Track and Field rankings, the Texas men will use this day as an opportunity to regain their footing and propel themselves back into the top six.

The men’s 4×100-meter sprint relay will kick off the day’s running events. The Longhorns’ quick-footed group in Mark Jackson, Marquise Goodwin, Emerson Sanders and Trevante Rhodes are expected to set the standard for Texas early on. The team of four is coming into the race with a seedntime of 39.23.

A sea of burnt orange will constitute a majority of the pack participating in the 1500-meter run, as Texas will showcase 11 distance runners. The Longhorns’ top three times headed into the race belong to junior Patrick McGregor (3:44.27), redshirt sophomore CJ Jessett (3:46.53) and junior Brock Simmons (3:47.20).

The 110-meter hurdles will lack a familiar face in junior Keiron Stewart, as he will not compete in the event on Saturday.  Instead, it will be senior Kenny Greaves representing the Longhorns, coming in with a seed time of 14.99.

Stewart will conserve his energy in order to run the anchor leg in section A of the evening’s 4×400 relay.

A mixture of UT former and future greats will constitute the 400-meter dash, as Texas’ Kyle Thompson and Dereck Dreyer compete alongside two former UT track stars, Trey Hardee and Danzell Fortson.

The 100-meter dash will be nothing short of explosive and action-packed. Texas’ seven athletes set to compete are all coming in with times well inside the 11-second mark. Goodwin represents the top time for Texas at 10.32, with Rhodes close behind with a 10.33. Decathletes Isaac Murphy and Petter Olson will also be among the seven to compete. The two multi-event specialists will also both participate in the 4×400 relay, pole vault and shot put.

The 400-meter hurdles will feature freshmen Josh Brudnick and Sheroid Evans. Evans currently lacks a recorded time in the event, so this will be an excellent opportunity for him to get an idea of where he stands among other competitors at this point in the outdoor season.

Rhodes will head into the 200-meter dash with the second best seed time of 20.81. Teammates Aaron Scott and Alex Williams are coming in fourth and eighth with a 21.34 and 21.82, respectively.

Closing out the men’s running events will be sections A and B of the 4×400 relay. Texas’ Murphy, Dreyer, Evans and Stewart will be vying for a title as the second seeded group with a time of 3:10.00. The Longhorns’ section B team in Greaves, Olson, Brudnick and Scott are four seconds off that mark at 3:14.00.

Printed on Friday, April 20, 2012 as: Horns look to rebound in local meet