The Longhorns celebrated after winning their third Big 12 Indoor Championship. But the goal remains bigger. 

Texas will be in Birmingham, Alabama, this weekend to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championship. A win would be the Longhorns’ first national title since 2006.

Texas comes into the event at No. 5 in the country after an impressive performance in the conference championships where it overwhelmingly took the conference title. The women have won six national titles in program history, but finished sixth last season. 

The Longhorns are banking on their 4x400m relay. The Longhorns were able to win the event last year and its time of 3:27.94. This year’s team made up of senior Courtney Okolo, junior Chrisann Gordon, senior Morolake Akinosun and sophomore Ariel Jones wants the NCAA record this year.

“We were close to the NCAA record,” Okolo said. “We were a couple tenths of a second off, so we are looking forward to just trying to win first and doing the best that we can. We want to come together and do our best on that day. 

Last year’s time was fourth in collegiate history. Akinosun will also compete in the 60m with freshman Teahna Daniels. 

“It is going to be real competitive,” Okolo said. “So hopefully the competitiveness will produce fast times that will potentially break the collegiate record.”

Head coach Mario Sategna said the Longhorns will continue to build on their past experiences heading into the weekend. 

“I think for us, just go in there make the finals and do what you’ve done to this point,” Sategna said. “I think we’re going to all be very proud of these men and women once we leave Birmingham.”