Men's Track and Field preview: Texas Twilight
AUSTIN, Texas -- The No. 8 University of Texas men's track and field team will host the final home meet of the season in the Texas Twilight on Saturday, April 21 at Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium. Admission is free and open to the public. The field events begin at 2:30 p.m. CT with the women's triple jump while the running events start at 4:30 p.m. CT with the 3,000-meter run. On the national level, Texas stands at No. 8 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) weekly poll. In the Trackwire Top 25 national ranking, UT is tied for No. 11 and projected to score 20 points at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Sacramento, Calif., from June 6-9, 2007. Texas has 10 NCAA Regional qualifiers and two NCAA provisional qualifiers through the first month of the season. Still awaiting their season debuts are All-Americans Jamaal Charles (Port Arthur, Texas), Leo Manzano (Marble Falls, Texas) and Jake Morse (Arlington, Texas). The trio will open up this weekend in their respective events. The deepest event this year for the Longhorns is the triple jump as two of the three NCAA Region qualifiers are in the top five in the nation. The event is very competitive on the national and regional level as the top six student-athletes in the nation are separated by 20 centimeters, and five of the top 10 jumpers are from the Midwest Region. Junior Joseph Davis (San Antonio, Texas) has the highest mark among all Longhorns as he is third in the nation in the triple jump with a lifetime best mark of 52-0.5 (15.86m). He is in good company behind 2007 NCAA Indoor runner-up and outdoor national leader Muhammed Halim from Cornell (52-4.75/15.97m) and outdoor second place and NCAA Champion Louisville's Andre Black (52-0.75/15.87m). Northeast Region Field Athlete of the Year and Harvard transfer senior Samyr Laine (Newburgh, N.Y.) is fifth in the triple jump with a mark of (15.79m) from the Texas Invitational. Sophomore Elliot O'Hare (Austin, Texas) is the third Longhorn qualifier and one of 11 qualified jumpers in the Midwest. Two-time national champion senior Andra Manson (Brenham, Texas) cleared the sixth highest mark in the country in the high jump at 7-2.5 (2.20m) in some of the worst weather conditions. The 2007 Texas Relays high jump champion is one of five from the Midwest Region in the top 10 in the high jump in the country. Junior Joel Hargett (Conroe, Texas) equaled the region height of 6-10.75 (2.10m) in earning a spot at the region championships as one of 52 national qualifiers. Senior hurdler Hamza Deyaf (Richardson, Texas) is seventh out of 56 national qualifiers in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.05 and second in the Big 12 in the event. After competing in his first outdoor decathlon competition on the college level, sophomore Andrew Webb (Midland, Texas) sits at No. 10 in the nation in the decathlon. He scored 7,226 points in his outdoor combined events college debut. The anchor of the throws, senior All-American Derek Randall (Beeville, Texas) is 11th in the country in the discus with a heave of 196-2 (59.81m). In the distance area, senior All-American Andrew Middleton's (College Station, Texas) mark of 28:54.87 in the 10,000-meter run is 12th in the nation. Classmate Ryan Wilson (Wichita, Kan.) is the top UT 3,000-meter steeplechase this year with the 14th best time in the nation (8:55.33). Two more Longhorns are in the top 50 in the nation. Junior John Rouse (Kaufman, Texas) is 27th out of 102 hammer throwers to qualify in the country, tossing 201-8 (61.46m). Freshman Will Paine (Houston, Texas) is one of 61 NCAA Region qualifiers, and one of 17 in the Midwest Region. He has a height of 16-6.75 (5.05m). Live results will be available at TexasSports.com during the meet and complete results will be posted online at the conclusion of Saturday's events.
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