With the onset of the outdoor track season, a fresh start begins for the Longhorn men’s track team on its home track. The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, which begin Wednesday at Mike A. Myers Stadium, mark the beginning of the season for a Texas team that saw a handful of school records and one individual national championship during the indoor season.

In the weeks since placing 12th at the indoor national championship meet, the Longhorns have not just been taking time off. Instead, the team made a final push in preparation for the outdoor season.

“We went back into a real specific training period for a while,” interim head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. “We’re pretty sharp now, we’re ready to really get into some good competition and see what we can do.”

Kicking off the outdoor season in Austin not only extends the break from weekly travel that comes with the grind of a full season of running but also allows for the season to begin with the entire team together.

“It’s a meet where we can all be together. It’s the one meet where everyone is going to be here, other than the conference meet,” Buford-Bailey said. “It has a more team feel. We can have more team meals, family will be here — it jump-starts the outdoor season, for sure.”

Several young Longhorn athletes, including sophomore O’Brien Wasome, the triple jump indoor national champion, freshman thrower Tripp Piperi and freshman distance runner Sam Worley, made major strides throughout the indoor season. With a host of runners competing in their first outdoor season, starting it off in front of a home crowd is a game-changer.

“I’m very excited,” redshirt freshman Medric Roberson said. “The stands will be packed. It’ll be a big stage to perform on. It’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”