Men's Track and Field uses home track advantage to qualify five for region championship
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas men's track and field team continued to produce NCAA Midwest Region qualifiers with five student-athletes meeting the standards in their respective events. Four of the five region marks were event winners and two of the NCAA qualifying marks were lifetime bests at the Texas Invitational on Saturday, March 24. "This meet is about the guys that weren't at the indoor nationals. That didn't travel to the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Guys like [junior John] Rouse who had a big improvement in the hammer and [senior] Joe Thorne who just missed the 1,500-meter qualifying standards. This was about the guys who didn't make the travel squad to get better. We're excited about [senior] Derek Randall having a good series in the hammer. [Senior] Samyr Laine and [junior] Joseph Davis improved in the triple jump. It was good to see [senior high jumper] Andra Manson have some fun in the sprints. We've still got a lot of work to do for the guys to realize that each time they go out there to compete, it's important. We still have a few guys out there who don't understand but that's what these meets are about." Junior John Rouse (Kaufman, Texas) became just the second hammer thrower ever to toss 200-feet at Texas, tossing 201-8 (61.46m) to win the event. He moves from fourth all-time to second all-time on the Longhorns' performers list and registers the seventh farthest throw ever by a Texas student-athlete. UT school record holder Dylan Armstrong has the top six performances with Rouse behind him with the seventh best mark. "I was trying to PR on the last throw. [Assistant coach] Mario [Sategna] has been working with me this week to try and get better from Miami. That last throw everything clicked; I hit the right positions that coach has been telling me to for so long and it worked out well. We just have to duplicate that in the meets to come and keep throwing further." The throwers continued to have a winning day as discus All-American Derek Randall (Beeville, Texas) bettered his regional standing to 196-3 (59.81m) in hitting a season-best mark and winning the event. Senior All-American Hamza Deyaf (Plano, Texas) met the region standard for the second consecutive week, winning the 400-meter hurdles in 51.43. He improved his regional mark of 51.89 that he ran at the Hurricane Invitational. Senior transfer Samyr Laine (Newburgh, N.Y.) finished four centimeters short of his lifetime-best outdoor mark, jumping 51-9.75 (15.79m). In winning the event, the reigning United States Track and Field and Cross Country Associatio (USTFCCCA) Northeast Region Field Athlete of the Year improved his regional qualifying mark of 50-8.75 (15.46m) from the Hurricane Invitational. Finishing right behind Laine was junior Joseph Davis (San Antonio, Texas), who landed in the pit in a lifetime best and NCAA Region qualifying mark of 50-8.75 (15.46m). Davis qualifies for the NCAA Midwest Region meet for the second time in three seasons. Senior Ryan Wilson (Wichita, Kan.) opened the running events for UT with a win in the 2,000-meter steeplechase. He cleared each barrier and rounded the track in 5:48.21. Freshman Chris Harkins (Austin, Texas) finished right behind Wilson, taking second in 6:06.89. Typically a mid-distance harrier, junior All-American Jacob Hernandez (Magnolia, Texas) competed in the 400, finishing second in 48.77. Senior cross country All-American Joe Thorne (Chamblee, Ga.) also took second, running the 1,500-meter run in 3:47.88. Thorne just missed the region qualifying mark by eighth-hundredths of a second. Junior Erik Stanley (Spring, Texas) rounded out the top three in the 1,500 with a time of 3:49.72. Senior high jumper Andra Manson (Brenham, Texas) used the meet as a training session for his season debut at the Texas Relays. Competing in the 100-meter dash, he registered the third fastest time overall and speediest mark in his heat in running 10.81. He came back to place fourth in the 200-meter dash, clocking 21.85. Fellow sprinter Trey Griffin (Lockhart, Texas) was sixth in the 100, clocking 10.87 with a 1.0 wind. Sophomore combined events athlete Andrew Webb (Midland, Texas) was third in the open 110-meter hurdles, clocking 14.67. He finished ahead of freshman decathlete Shawn Schmidt (Plano, Texas) who cleared the hurdles in a season-best 15.73. Sophomore Dustin Bynum (Corpus Christi, Texas) finished first in his flight and fourth overall, tossing 170-10 (52.08m). Adding to the string of top five finishes was redshirt freshman Will Schroeder (San Antonio, Texas). He finished fourth in the 800 in 1:54.50. In the shot put, sophomore Nick Baucum (Robstown, Texas) hit 15-meters in the shot put for the second consecutive weekend, throwing 49-9.25 (15.17m) and placing fifth in the event. Texas Invitational Results (March 24, 2007 - Austin, Texas) 100-meter dash (NCAA Reg.: 10.50) 200-meter dash (NCAA Reg.: 21.19) 400-meter dash (NCAA Reg.: 47.20) 800-meter run (NCAA Reg.: 1:50.40) 1500-meter run (NCAA Reg.: 3:47.80) 110-meter hurdles (NCAA Reg.: 14.30) 400-meter hurdles (NCAA Reg.: 52.51) 2,000-meter steeplechase High jump (NCAA Reg.: 2.10m) Long jump (NCAA Reg.: 7.34m) Triple jump (NCAA Reg.: 15.00m) Shot put (NCAA Reg.: 16.80m) Discus (NCAA Reg.: 51.70m) Hammer (NCAA Reg.: 55.60m) Pole vault (NCAA Reg.: 5.05m) Javelin (NCAA Reg.: 61.60m) # - NCAA Regional
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