Two months into an already record-breaking men’s track and field season, Texas aims to keep pace. With a program record time in the 4×400-meter relay last weekend, an NCAA-wide heptathlon record and a 1,000-meter dash best in the rearview mirror, Texas runners are headed for the final lap of the season.
December’s Commonwealth College Opener hosted in Louisville, KY had its podium painted burnt orange with Texas athletes to start off the indoor season. Longhorns accounted for seven of the top 10 times in the 300-meter dash, the top three in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles and the top two in the 500-meter run.
Returning to Louisville just over a month later, senior standout Yusuf Bizimana broke a 1,000-meter dash record that stood in the NCAA for seven years with his time of 2:18.10, surpassing the previous mark by .16 seconds. There was more than a six-second gap between the six-time All-American and the second-place finisher.
The last day in Louisville brought debuts and deja vu for the decorated team. Freshmen Jack Boyd and Zain Hamdani hit marks of 4:11.02 and 4:19.37 for third and 11th place, respectively, in the mile. The duo careened past junior Cole Lindhorst’s winning time of 1:47.39 in the 800-meter dash, with which he led the NCAA and marked eighth in Texas track and field history.
Sophomore Kendrick Smallwood, who placed fifth in last year’s Big 12 Championship 110-meter hurdles, won the 60-meter event with a time of 7.73 seconds. Junior Sam Hurley secured his second win and personal best that weekend after clearing 5.03 meters in the pole vault.
At the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational in Albuquerque, NM, Bizimana was victorious once again in the 800-meter, posting the top time in the NCAA this season at 1:46.47, with junior Elijah Mosley not too far behind in fourth, clocking out at 1:50.01. Sophomore Jeremiah Nubbe got his second win of the season with a 21.45-meter weight throw, which stands as the eighth-best in program history.
Another podium was dominated by the Longhorns in the 300-meter, with graduate student Brian Herron placing first, sophomore Christopher Brinkley Jr. in second, and senior Caleb Hulbin in third.
Texas carried a No. 2 rank into Boston, MA the following weekend, with Cole Lindhorst placing second in the 800-meter with a time of 1:47.49, ranking as the 10th-fastest in state history.
Back in Albuquerque for the New Mexico Collegiate Classic, six-time All-American and senior Leo Neugebauer scored 6,219 points in the heptathlon. The seven-event performance was an NCAA best.
Last weekend’s Eagle Invite from Chestnut Hill, MA featured a 4×400 relay program record, with sophomore Logan Popelka, Mosley, sophomore John Rutledge and Herron breaking a two-year record with their combined time of 3:03.93.
This Saturday, the No. 3 ranked men’s team will head to Fayetteville for the Arkansas Qualifier in what will be a pivotal meet with the Big 12 Championships approaching Feb. 23.
