Men's Track and Field preview: Penn Relays, Rice Twilight, Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Longhorns will compete across the country this weekend. A large group is headed to the 113th Penn Relays Carnival in Philadelphia from Friday to Saturday, April 27-28. Two small groups are headed to the Rice Twilight in Houston on Thursday, April 26 and the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on Sunday, April 29 in Stanford, Calif. Three relays are entered at the Penn Relays - 4x100, 4xmile, and distance medley. In the open events, sophomore All-American Jamaal Charles (Port Arthur, Texas) will race in the 100. 400-meter hurdler Hamza Deyaf (Richardson, Texas) and Alan Bean (Dalhart, Texas) are entered in the championship section of the quarter hurdles. Senior two-time national champion Andra Manson (Brenham, Texas) is in the championship section of the high jump and fellow jumpers Samyr Laine (Newburgh, N.Y.) and Joseph Davis (San Antonio, Texas) are on the start list for the championship triple jump. Senior Lawrence Adjah (Piscataway, N.J.) and sophomore Elliot O'Hare (Austin, Texas) will compete in the college section of the triple jump. Senior All-American Derek Randall (Beeville, Texas) and junior thrower John Rouse (Kaufman, Texas) will compete in the championship sections of the discus and hammer, respectively. Davis and Adjah will take the runway in the long jump. Shot putter Nick Baucum (Robstown, Texas), javelin thrower Dustin Bynum (Corpus Christi, Texas), high jumpers Joel Hargett (Conroe, Texas) and Raymond Harris (Nacogdoches, Texas), and pole vaulter Will Paine (Houston, Texas) are in the travel party headed to Houston for the Rice Twilight on Thursday evening. Ending the weekend is a small group of four headed to Stanford University for the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on Sunday. Senior Ryan Wilson (Wichita, Kan.) will race to improve his NCAA regional standard in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Senior Darren Brown (Spring, Texas) looks to become the third qualifier in the 1,500-meter run. Seniors Andrew Middleton (College Station, Texas) and Owen Washburn (Amherst, Mass.) are entered in the 5,000-meter run field. Texas is ranked a season-high fifth in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association weekly poll. In the Trackwire Top 25, Texas is also in the best position this season, rated fifth and projected to score 31 points. UT has 17 individual NCAA regional or national qualifiers and one relay on the travel squad for the NCAA Midwest Region Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. Five events have multiple qualifiers (two or more student-athletes who have met the standard in the event) with the triple jump leading the way with three entered in the regional meet. Leading the qualifiers are Davis and O'Hare who have met the NCAA standard in two events. Davis has a top 10 national mark in the triple jump and ran a leg of the 4x100-meter relay. O'Hare also qualified in the triple and added a regional mark in the 110-meter hurdles at the Texas Twilight. In addition to Laine's NCAA-leading ranking, Texas has 10 people ranked in the top 25 nationally in their events. Davis adds a second top 10 triple jumper at No. 7 in the NCAA. Hernandez and Manson are third in the nation in the 800 and the high jump, respectively. Junior Leo Manzano and Deyaf are ninth in the nation in their respective events, the 1,500-meter run (3:42.10) and 400-meter hurdles (50.82). Randall is 10th in the country in the discus. Decathlete Andrew Webb's point total from Texas Relays is the 10th highest in the nation. Junior Jake Morse and Wilson are in the top 25 nationally in the steeplechase. Junior John Rouse is rated in the top 25 in the hammer. Middleton's provisional qualifying time in the 10,000-meter is 12th in the country which would earn an at-large bid to the NCAA national championship.
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