Texas track and field wins heptathlon and pentathlon events at Texas Tech

Hunter Dworaczyk, News Reporter

Fresh off of a No. 1 ranking for the men and a No. 2 ranking for the women, the Texas track and field squad impressed in the Texas Tech Open & Multis meet this past weekend in Lubbock.

Coming into the final event of the women’s indoor pentathlon contest, Texas sophomore Kristine Blazevica led the entire competition field. By winning the high jump event and placing in the top five in every other event, all Blazevica had to do to win the pentathlon was hold off professional athlete Hope Bender in the 800 meter.

Bender led Blazevica with 400 meters left in the race, but the Longhorn found another gear in the third lap, propelling her into first place. The Latvian held onto the lead the rest of the way, winning the race with a time of 2:13.43, her personal-best.


Not only did Blazevica’s 4,402 total points win her Friday’s pentathlon, but it also broke a program record. Her score bested the previous Texas pentathlon record by 109 points.

Coming into the Texas Tech Open & Multis, junior Leo Neugebauer was looking to duplicate his dominant, first-place heptathlon performance from last year’s Texas Tech invitational.

If there were any doubts about the reigning Big 12 men’s indoor heptathlon champion’s chances to win this weekend’s heptathlon event, Neugebauer quickly silenced them.

The German product excelled early in the first day of the contest, winning the long jump and shot put portions of the heptathlon on Friday. Then, already owning a sizable lead, Neugebauer put together strong performances in the final three events Saturday, including a personal-best time of 8.18 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles.

Neugebauer finished with a personal-best 6,021 total points, securing him victory in the heptathlon. The junior was dominant throughout the meet, outpacing the second-place finisher by 230 points.

Senior Demtri Whitsett finished eighth in the heptathlon, producing a fifth place performance in the 1000 meters and a sixth place result in pole vault.

Despite not competing in the pole vault portion, Texas juniors Philip Frank and Alex Loving each placed in the top 15 in the heptathlon.

Sophomore Trinity Tomlinson was the last to compete for the Longhorns, finishing eighth in the women’s high jump final.

The Longhorns, both ranked in the top 2 in the initial United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association indoor rankings, will be back in action at a pair of meets next weekend, the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and the New Mexico Collegiate Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Both are scheduled for Feb. 4-5.