The Longhorn men and women stood victorious at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, Texas, on Saturday with record-breaking performances and multiple firsts.
The No. 17 Texas men won their first Big 12 Indoor championship since 2017, securing a final victory in the 4×400-meter relay. The four-peat Texas women recorded the highest score of all teams, and 11 Longhorns will return to Austin as conference champions in their individual events.
Friday’s opening day in West Texas featured freshman star Kristine Blazevica, whose performance from Friday established her as the second-best pentathlete in Texas’ history. The Riga, Latvia native combined events runner’s score moved her to No. 3 in the NCAA for the 2021 season. Blazevica finished second in the 60-meter hurdles and shot put, won the long jump at 6.20 meters and secured the 800-meter run first-place finish at 2:22.10.
Chanel Brissett, the two-time NCAA Champion and four-time Pac-12 Champion, achieved her first Big 12 title in Lubbock. Brissett’s 60-meter hurdles performance assures her as the school record holder with a 7.89 finish.
The two junior sprinters, Kynnedy Flannel and Stacey Ann Williams, claimed Big 12 titles in the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 400-meter run. Flannel won two titles and was Texas’ top scorer in the meet with a recorded 20 points, as she finished the 60-meter dash in 7.25 and the 200-meter dash in 22.55. Flannel’s 200-meter performance set a meet record, now ranking her No. 2 in the NCAA this season and No. 3 in the world. Ann Williams secured her first Big 12 title in the 400-meter dash with a lifetime-best 51.60, now marking her performance the second-best in the NCAA this season and the fifth-best in school history.
Freshman sprinter Davicia Patterson assisted in the women’s four-peat performance with a 1:18.85 in the 600-yard run. Patteron’s run moves her to No. 5 in Texas history and makes her the first Big 12 600-yard champion to reach the 1:18 margin since Longhorn Legend Courtney Okolo accomplished the time in 2015.
Texas men took first place for the first time in four years. Four of Texas’ own claimed individual conference titles Saturday.
Senior sprinter Micaiah Harris repeated as the Big 12 Indoor champion in the 200-meter dash with a school-record 20.38, and freshman Yusuf Bizimana claimed his first title in the mile with a 4:05.44 finish. Bizimana also took second place in the 800-meter run.
Senior Tripp Piperi asserted his dominance in the shot put with a throw of 21.00 meters, now having won six titles in all six of his Big 12 championship appearances. The 4×400-meter relay team of Harris, Jon Maas, Charles Brockman III and Willington Wright sealed the victory for Texas with a 3:07.20 time in the event.
Texas now looks ahead to the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 11-13. The Longhorns reached the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2020, but the end of the season was cut short due to COVID-19. Early March will mark head coach Edrick Floréal’s first official appearance with Texas at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
