The Texas Women’s Indoor Track & Field team was tagged as the one to beat after the Division I ranking were released earlier this week, placing the Longhorns first.
Led by new coach Mario Sategna, the Longhorns return a nation-best five scorers from the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships to go along with incoming transfer Ashley Spencer, the two-time defending outdoor national champion in the 400 meters.
The men enter the season ranked No. 15, an improvement over their 23rd place finish last year. The team will be led by Ryan Crouser — the favorite to win the shot put title despite missing last indoor season due to injury — and sophomore heptathlon competitor Johannes Hock.
Although it’s his first year as head coach of both the men and women’s teams, Sategna has been a fixture of the program for the last decade as an assistant to the men’s team under previous coach Bubba Thornton.
