Texas golf returns from Aloha State

Freshman Gavin Hall led Texas to a seventh place tie in the inaugural Amer Ari Invitational tournament this weekend. 

Hall finished the last round with the Longhorn’s low score on the season. His 70 was good for 30th, followed closely by redshirt senior Brax McCarthy who had a score of 69.

Freshman Beau Hossler and senior Toni Hakula rounded out the starting team tied for 42nd, with a 73 and 74 respectively. 

Individual redshirt sophomore Will Griffin ended his first appearance this season in a tie for 64th.

Texas returns to action Feb. 23 at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship in Humble.

No. 10 Men’s Tennis ends undefeated start with loss to Illini

After seven straight victories to earn its top-10 ranking, Texas fell to No. 22 Illinois 3-4 Sunday.

“We were fortunate to come out of it with a win,” Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. “We are just finding out how to get gritty and dirty and nasty out there.”

The Fighting Illini did each as No. 46 Tim Kopinski downed Texas’ No. 24 freshman George Goldhoff with a tie break and six straight points.

The match followed a Friday win, as Texas overpowered Michigan 5-2. Michigan defeated No. 3 Texas duo senior David Holiner and junior Jacoby Lewis (6-2) before downing the Longhorns No. 1 of juniors Lloyd Glasspool and Soren Hess-Olsen 6-4. Texas clinched its match with five consecutive singles victories. 

Track & Field Recap

With just one week remainng until the Big 12 Championships, junior shot-putter Ryan Crouser is definitely ready.

Crouser shattered his own school record in the shot put by more than two feet at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic last weekend with a toss of 69 feet, 8 inches.  

The throw strengthens Crouser’s status as the favorite to win the indoor shot-put title and also ranks third on the 2014 world performance list.

Crouser’s toss surpassed those of collegiate indoor competitors since the 2010 NCAA Championships, and he now stands atop the 2014 collegiate performers list by more than two feet.

Freshman sprinter Carlton Anumnu also clocked an impressive performance, finishing second in the 60 meters with a career-best time of 6.87.

The No. 2 Longhorn women’s indoor track and field also finished a successful weekend at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic. Head coach Mario Sategna said it was a successful meet for the squad.

“We are getting more familiar with being on this track, which is important since the NCAA meet will be here,” Sategna said.   

Sophomore sprinter Courtney Okolo led a Texas podium sweep in the 400 meters, while All-American senior jumper Shanay Briscoe’s high jump and sophomore sprinter Morolake Akinosun’s 60-meter topped their rivals as well.

And yet, junior pole-vaulter Kaitlin Petrillose impressed fans most. Already holding the school record, she climbed an additional 5 inches to the 14-foot-7.25-inch pole-vault mark. Securing another first place finish for the Longhorns, Petrillose set a new school record,  and moved to first  on the NCAA 2014 leaderboard.

The team returns to action Friday for its final split group meets, the Iowa State Classic and the Tyson Invitational.

Women’s Golf Season Opener

Round one of the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge Tournament sent the Texas women’s golf team off to a rocky start Sunday in Palos Verdes, Calif. Opening its spring season, the team finished the day at 23-over-par, finishing 15th to enter round two. 

Competing against Big 12 opponents Baylor, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, the players have a lot of ground to make up over the next two days in order to establish the team as a conference contender. 

Leading the team was junior Bertine Strauss, who, after a tough start shooting two bogies and a double bogey, completed the day with three birdies on the back nine to propel the team out of last place and land them one spot ahead of No. 9 Oklahoma State. Texas sits 21 strokes behind the surprising leader, unranked Baylor, who finished the day at just 2-over-par. Texas tees off round two at 8:30 Monday morning.

Longhorns endure another first round exit

The Longhorns struggled through ITA Team Indoor Championship, finishing 0-3 after facing Texas A&M, Alabama and UCLA.

During Friday’s match against the No. 5 Bruins, Texas fell into an early 3-0 deficit. After the Longhorns lost in doubles, the Bruins’ No. 1 Anderson easily swept No. 22 Addison (6-3, 6-1). Neda Koprcina’s loss put UCLA one win from victory. 

Junior Lina Padegimaite and senior Elizabeth Begley kept Texas alive. Both came back from one-set deficits and won in three. Begley upset No. 24 Jennifer Brady before the Bruins clinched the match. 

Four out six Longhorns collected at least one win in Virginia. Sophomore Addison recovered Saturday against Alabama and won in three sets. Begley and Koprcina grabbed singles wins Sunday, but the Aggies clinched the win at sixth singles.

Texas hosts No. 16 Northwestern and No. 14 Vanderbilt at Penick-Allison next weekend.