Despite cold and rainy weather, the Texas women’s relay team came out on top at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend.
The Longhorns totaled 26 points during the relays, tying the Baylor women for the top spot to share the meet’s Hy-Vee Cup.
Texas started the day with a strong second-place finish in the sprint relay, securing eight points towards the cup. But the Longhorns struggled in the distance relay, coming across the line in 12th place.
Texas rebounded with a win in the 4×100-meter relay and entered the final cup event six points behind Baylor. The 4×400-meter relay team of freshman Zola Golden and seniors Courtney Okolo, Morolake Akinosun and Melissa Gonzalez pulled off a second-place finish while Baylor came across the line seventh, allowing the Longhorns to even up the cup score.
Sophomore Caitland Smith scored a win away from the relay events, taking first in the 100-meter final with a time of 11.55 seconds. Sophomore Ariel Jones and senior BJ Adeokun took third and fifth, respectively, in the 100-meter final. Neither event counted towards the cup standings.
Meanwhile, the Texas men battled their way to a second-place finish in the men’s Hy-Vee Cup standings.
The men swept the sprint relays by taking first in both the 4×100-meter race and 4×400-meter relays. The team of senior Zack Bilderback and juniors Charles Amnunu, Aldrich Bailey and Carlton Amnunu finished with a time of 40.00 seconds in the 4×100-meter relay. Carlton Amnunu, juniors Chris Irvin and Aldrich Bailey Jr., and Bilderback edged out Baylor by 1.44 seconds in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:05.51.
The two relays racked up a total of 20 points, taking second overall to Illinois’ 24 points overall after only racing in two of the five scoring events The Longhorns return back to Austin to host the Longhorn Invitational next Saturday in the last regular season meet of the year.
