If the indoor track season were a 100-meter dash, Texas would be past the 50-meter point, accelerating into the all-important final stretch.
On Friday and Saturday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 19 Longhorns competed against student-athletes from 18 of the nation’s premier track and field programs. Nine participating teams were ranked in the Top 25 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s week two men’s indoor national rankings.
The New Mexico Collegiate Classic marked Texas’ fifth out of nine potential competition weekends, including the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Indoor Championships.
With the season coming down to the wire, the Longhorns will look to move into and clinch qualifying spots for the championship competitions. Only the top 16 individuals and 12 relay teams in each event nationally are accepted to the NCAA championship meet.
Texas finished seventh in the team rankings in Albuquerque. The Longhorns earned a score of 42.83 for placing in the top eight of scored events, having participants in 11 of the 15.
On Friday, sophomore Kelsey Daniel and senior Solomon Washington finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in a field of 25 long jumpers. The duo sits at No. 2 and No. 7 on the NCAA Indoor Championships qualifiers. USC junior JC Stevenson flew 8.17 meters at the meet to take Daniel’s No. 1 spot. Daniel also competed in the triple jump at the meet, finishing fourth.
In the high jump, sophomore Osawese Agbonkonkon placed seventh while junior Dylan Lineberger tied for eighth. Senior Sam Hurley received no mark this time around. All look to climb into qualifying positions in upcoming meets.
Junior John Rutledge and sophomore Xavier Butler finished back-to-back at seventh and eighth in the invitational 200-meter. Junior Kendrick Smallwood finished third in the unseeded 200-meter dash in a personal-record performance. He also ran the 60-meter hurdles, placing third in the final with a time 0.01 seconds behind his college best.
Sophomore Brock Lewis represented Texas in the heptathlon on Friday and Saturday. Lewis came in third with a score of 5,386, a personal best. Within his overall score, Lewis had personal best finishes in the 60-meter race, shot put, high jump and 60-meter hurdles.
On Saturday, junior Logan Popelka ran the 400-meter for Texas with a ninth-place finish. Popelka sits at No. 15 in the 400-meter and No. 18 in the 200-meter on the NCAA qualifying list.
Freshman Sam Abati and Hurley both reached 5.24 meters in the pole vault, Abati earning third and Hurley fifth due to total misses throughout the event. Hurley is tied at No. 17 on the pole vault NCAA qualifying list, his best performance coming in New Mexico three weekends ago.
Sophomore Michael Pinones finished fourth in the shot put in his lone event of the meet.
In the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s week three men’s indoor national rating index, Texas dropped again, this time out of the top 25 to No. 26. The Longhorns are ranked third in the South Central region and seventh in the SEC.
Texas athletes will compete in two meets this weekend — some in the Tiger Paw Invite in Clemson, South Carolina., and others in the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusets.
Then, only the Arkansas Qualifier stands in front of the SEC Indoor Championships.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated 12 individuals, as opposed to 16, can be accepted to the NCAA championship meet. This has been corrected. The Texan regrets this error.
