No. 10/1 Texas track and field started the first two days of the 95th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays with some of its best performances of the season. 

Wednesday’s events were filled with stiff competition from universities like Notre Dame and Mississippi State, but the Longhorns achieved top five finishes in all but one event. 

One athlete that brought their best to the track was senior Leo Neugebauer who, on Wednesday, finished in first place of the decathlon with a personal best first-day score of 4,445 points. 

He first competed in the 100-meter dash, attempting to defend his victory last year in the same event. His personal best time of 10.75 seconds — good enough for third place in the event. The performance pitted Neugebauer behind first-place Mississippi State freshman Peyton Bair and second-place BYU sophomore Ben Barton. 

The German decathlete also made history with his shot put throw of 16.66m (54-8), which ranks as the second best throw in collegiate decathlon history. Neugebauer took first in the event and followed it with poll finishes in the high jump and long jump.

In the high jump, the senior won by clearing 2.04m (6-8.5), matching his season best, but Neugebauer separated himself from the rest of his competition in the long jump with a leap of 7.74m (24-6.25). The jump earned him 927 points towards his total decathlon score and brought him closer to defending his Texas Relays title. 

Another standout from Wednesday’s events was junior Kristine Blazevica, who finished the first day of the heptathlon in fourth place with 3,468 points. The two-time All-American recorded three top-five performances out of her four events, including the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump. 

She first earned third place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.70 seconds, only 0.16 seconds slower than first-place finisher Sterling Lester, a senior from Florida. 

In the high jump, Blazevica cleared a season best bar of 1.71m (5-7.25) and won another third-place title for the day. 

Both Neugebauer and Blazevica continued their momentum going into Thursday as they continued to produce strong performances in their events. 

Neugebauer earned a personal best in the men’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.33 seconds, landing him in fourth place in the event, but he shined in his field events as he won first place in both the discus throw, 52.65m (172-9) and pole vault, 5.10m (16-8.75). Neugebauer maintained his position in first place in the decathlon with 8.478 points, a meet record. 

Blazevica’s strongest events of Thursday were the long jump and the 800m race, placing second in both of these events. In the long jump, she jumped 6.08m, only 0.03m behind first-place finisher Anneke Moersdorf, an Oregon State junior. Later that day, she ran the heptathlon 800m race in 2:14.55. 

Blazevica’s 800m time moved her up from fourth place to second place in the heptathlon with a total score of 5,683 points. 

Neugebauer and Blazevica were not the only Texas athletes who had strong performances in their events on Thursday. Junior Cruz Gomez shined in the men’s 1500m race.

Throughout the majority of the race, he was not in the top three, but as he turned the corner on the last 200m, he began to trail ahead, separating himself from the pack. This determination led him to first place with a time of 3:45.10. 

Two other athletes that shared the spotlight with the other Texas athletes were seniors Valery Tobias and Brooke Jaworski, runners who earned the top two places in the women’s 800m Invitational race. 

Tobias blazed ahead during the last 100m of the race, leaving a large gap between herself and the rest of the competition. The First-Team All-American earned first place with a time of 2:03.59. Jaworski finished strong after Tobias crossed the finish line, coming in second place with a time of 2:05.37.