Texas track and field claim victories in field events at Longhorn Invitational

Aakriti Singla, General Sports Reporter

Coming off its second and third placements at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in Lubbock, No. 8/1 Texas track and field kept up its momentum at the Longhorn Invitational on Saturday.

Saturday’s early performances were met with women’s track and field dominating at home, claiming three victories in the field events.

Sophomore Chrystal Herpin excelled in the women’s shot put event, throwing for a final of 15.90m (52-2).


Her victory marks an improvement from her eighth place finish of 14.28m (46-10.25) at the Dr. MLK Jr. Invitational in January. Herpin is now eighth on Texas’ All-Time Performer List.

In the women’s pole vault, junior Kaeli Thompson placed first in the event, with a final height of 3.80m. Though just short of her personal best record of 4.05 (13-3.5), the No. 9 Indoor Performer added another victory to the Longhorns outdoor opener.

Finishing off the Longhorns’ streak for the women, sophomore Darja Sopova won her triple-jump event with a final of 12.61m (41-4.5).

Men’s track and field highlighted sophomore Sam Hurley finished first in the high jump event with a final of 2.18m (7-1.75). The jump was Hurley’s personal best record for a high jump event.

The defending champion of the Longhorn Invitational high jump, Hurley cleared seven feet, beating his previous year’s record of 2.00m (6-6.75).

Senior Sean Stavinoha finished out the men’s victories in the discus event, throwing for a final of 56.57m (185-7). Stavinoha also defended his Longhorn Invitational discus title, improving from last year’s personal best record of 55.84m (183-2).

The Longhorns now look to next weekend’s NCAA Indoor Championship at Albuquerque Convention Center to finish off the indoor season.