Texas track and field traveled to Los Angeles over the weekend to compete against some of the top teams in the nation — Ohio State, University of Southern California and Florida — in the Cardinal and Gold Challenge. The Texas women finished second, while the men turned in a fourth place outing.
The Longhorn women finished tied for second despite keeping their distance runners and horizontal jumps group back in Austin to stay fresh for Texas Relays next week. The home team, No. 4 USC, won the meet with 159 points. No. 7 Texas and No. 10 Florida tied with 115 points, and No. 16 Ohio State finished in fourth with 110 points.
The Texas women were triumphant in four events. Sophomore Shay Petty took home a field event win for the women, clearing 3.90m in her pole vault victory.
Fellow sophomore teammate Ariel Jones set a new personal record in the 400-meter hurdles as she sprinted ahead of the rest of the field with a time of 56.55. Junior Chrisann Gordon also cruised to a victory for Texas in the 800-meter with a time of 2:06.81.
The 4×100 team made up of freshman Teahna Daniels, senior Courtney Okolo, sophomore Shania Collins and senior Morolake Akinosun continued to impress. They beat their second place time at the TCU Open by almost two seconds with a mark of 43.55 seconds, taking first place in the event.
After much anticipation throughout the indoor season, junior Byron Robinson and freshman John Burt showed off their talents in the hurdles events. Robinson placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 49.48 seconds, just behind Florida’s junior Eric Futch at 49.45 seconds. Burt ran the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.18 seconds, also earning a second place spot.
Junior sprinter Charles Anumnu won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.40 seconds. He also placed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.86 seconds. Junior Senoj-Jay Givans and junior Carlton Anumnu followed behind in third and fourth place, respectively.
On the field, the throwing group showed depth. Redshirt sophomore Alan Zapalac placed fourth in the hammer throw at 59.62 meters. Redshirt freshman Brian Peterson placed second in discus with a throw of 52.65 meters. Junior Spencer McCloud represented the jumpers by placing second in the high jump at 2.08 meters.
Texas gets to play host this coming week for the first time this season. The 89th Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays begin Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at Mike A. Myers Stadium and will run through Saturday.
