Men's Track and Field wins distance medley relay on day one of Big 12 Championships
AMES, Iowa -- The Texas men's distance medley relay won its second consecutive Big 12 title, clocking 9:43.66, and the Longhorns sit in a tie for fourth place (18 points) after day one (Feb. 23) of the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championship. "I think the guys competed well today," said head coach Bubba Thornton. "Like all of the teams here there have been a couple of disappointments, so we'll see who holds the cards tomorrow. We've got a lot of pressure on us tonight to get ready for tomorrow." Senior Darren Brown (Spring, Texas), who qualified in the 1000-meter run earlier in the day (2:27.17) opened the 1,200-meter segment of the men's distance medley. He exchanged with Hamza Deyaf (Plano, Texas), who sprinted the next 400-meters. Junior Jacob Hernandez (Magnolia, Texas) took the baton from Deyaf and gave UT its first lead of the day during the 800 segment. Returning DMR champion anchor Leo Manzano (Marble Falls, Texas) cruised the final stretch to give the quartet a victory for the second consecutive season. "When you look at the guys who ran the DMR, that's our front line," continued Thornton. "Having Leo (Manzano) at the end gives you advantages because he controls the race. I'm awfully proud of Darren (Brown), Hamza (Deyaf) and Jacob (Hernandez)." Senior Trey Hardee (Birmingham, Ala.) contributed four points in the long jump with a 24-10 (7.57m) performance. Hardee started the day off tying his career-best (7.76) in the 60-meter hurdles. His provisional qualifying time gives him the fifth fastest mark in the country this year, and tied a mark he already owned that stands as the second-fastest in school history. Senior Andrew Middleton (College Station, Texas) scored the first points for the Longhorns, tallying four points with a fifth-place time of 14:10.28. Three Longhorns advanced to the finals in the mile run. Manzano paced the first group in the mile run with the speediest preliminary mark (4:06.65). Junior Erik Stanley (Spring, Texas) led the second heat, clocking 4:07.56. Senior All-American Joe Thorne (Chamblee, Ga.) earned a berth in tomorrow's finals, running 4:08.84 in heat two. Senior Donovan Kilmartin (Eagle, Idaho) ended day one in the lead in the heptathlon with 3,270 points. He used top two finishes in three of four events on the first day of the conference championships to secure the top spot. He won the high jump with a season-best 6-8.75 (2.05m) clearance and the long jump after tying his season-best distance of 23-4.5 (7.12m). Kilmartin opened the day with a third place 60-meter dash performance (7.13 second, 833 points). Kilmartin was in fourth-place in the long jump entering his final attempt in the three-jump series. He nailed the farthest mark of the group on his last attempt and scored 842 points. Kilmartin then distanced himself from the combined events group with a runner-up performance in the shot put. He scored 745 points behind a throw of 46-10 (14.27m) to increase the gap between first and second-place by 25 points. Kilmartin extended the lead over the next closest competitor, Iowa State's Neil Hines, to 215 points with his mark in the high jump. Three Longhorns advanced to the finals in the mile run. Manzano paced the first group in the mile run with the speediest preliminary mark (4:06.65). Junior Erik Stanley (Spring, Texas) led the second heat, clocking 4:07.56. Senior All-American Joe Thorne (Chamblee, Ga.) earned a berth in tomorrow's finals, running 4:08.84 in heat two. Sophomore Andrew Webb (Midland, Texas) had the fifth highest point total of day one's heptathlon, scoring 3,007 points through four events. The high jump was the strongest event of the day for Webb, as he cleared a lifetime-best 6-7.5 (2.02m). Webb set the tone for the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter dash (7.16 - 826 points). In the long jump, his 22-1 (6.73m) performance was enough to give him eighth place in the event. He recorded an 11th-place throw of 39-6 (12.04m) to accumulate 609 points in the shot put. Freshman Shawn Schmidt (Plano, Texas) ended day one with 2,447 points. His highest placing came in the high jump, as he cleared 5-11.25 (1.81m). He placed 13th in the 60-meter dash (7.48 seconds/719 points), long jump (19-2/5.84m) and shot put (35-9.25/10.90m). Other finishers: Brian Beach (Roanoke, Texas) ran 6.89 and Trey Griffin (Lockhart, Texas) posted a 6.97 time in the 60-meter prelims... Sophomore Elliot O'Hare (Austin, Texas) and Trevor Gerland (Katy, Texas) ran 8.11 and 8.12, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles... Deyaf (Plano, Texas) registered a 1:11.69 time in the 600-yard run, ahead of teammate Alan Bean (Dalhart, Texas) who clocked 1:12.76... Sophomore Will Schroeder (San Antonio, Texas) ran 2:31.42 in the 1000-meter run. 2007 Big 12 Championships Day One Results 60m dash (Auto: 6.62/Prov: 6.74) 60m hurdles (Auto: 7.70/Prov: 7.91) 800m run (Auto: 1:47.80/Prov: 1:49.90) Mile run (Auto: 3:59/Prov: 4:04) 1000m run 600 yard run 5000m run Distance medley relay (Auto: 9:34/Prov: 9:45.70) Long jump (Auto: 7.85/Prov: 7.50) Heptathlon Day One Results (Auto: 5,650; Prov: 5,300) 5. Andrew Webb (3,007 points) Sophomore Andrew Webb (Midland, Texas) Freshman Shawn Schmidt (Plano, Texas) P - preliminary race
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