Penn Relays Meet Info
Date: Friday and Saturday, April 29-30
Site: Franklin Field (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Host: Pennsylvania
Rice Twilight Meet Info
Date: Saturday, April 30
Site: Rice University Track Stadium (Houston, Texas)
Host: Rice
Last Time Out
Junior Brian Robison (Splendora, Texas) recorded NCAA Regional qualifiers in the shot put (59-2.75) and discus (177-10), while winning both events, as the Texas men's track and field team posted 17 qualifiers in events at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco, Texas and the Oregon Invitational in Eugene, Ore. The women's team notched 10 qualifiers while competing at the Michael Johnson behind sophomore Jerrika Chapple's (Lancaster, Texas) regional times in the 200 (23.84) and 400 meters (53.32).
Junior Ronald Hill (Walnut, Calif.) recorded his first qualifier in the 100 meter dash this season. He posted a 10.49 in the prelims and went on to win the event in 10.55. Freshman Hamza Deyaf (Plano, Texas) won the 400-meter hurdles in a regional-qualifying 51.44 while sophomore Brandon McFarling (College Station, Texas) took the pole vault with a regional clearance of 16-6.75.
The men's distance team racked up 12 qualifiers during their trip to the Oregon Invitational. Four Longhorns posted regional times in the 1,500 meters including freshman Leonel Manzano (Marble Falls, Texas), who won the event in 3:42.84. Texas went on to post three qualifiers in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and five qualifiers in the 5,000 meters.
On the women's side, sophomore Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas) posted regional qualifiers in winning the shot put (54-10.75) and finishing second in the discus (158-0). Junior Melaine Walker (Kingston, Jamaica) took the 100-meter hurdles in a regional-qualifying 13.26 and Temeka Kincy set a new personal best in the 800 meters with a regional-qualifying 2:09.02 in finishing fourth. Freshman Anne Phillips (Fort Worth, Texas) finished second in the pole vault behind her first regional clearance as a Longhorn, 12-6.
Texas Tidbits
The Longhorns have captured 26 Penn Relays titles since 1994, which includes 15 by the women's team and 11 by the men's team ... Sophomore Andra Manson will return to defend his high jump title from 2004. He won the event last year with a clearance of 7-5 ... The Longhorns have already posted 79 regional marks during the outdoor season. The women's team has notched 42 marks, while the men's team has recorded 37 ... Freshman Leonel Manzano won the 1,500 meters at the Oregon Invitational (4/23) with the ninth-fastest time in the country (3:42.84) ... Manson is currently tied with seven others nationally for the fourth-best clearance in the high jump (7-2.50) ... Junior Brian Robison has posted regional qualifiers in the shot put (61-4) and the discus (180-9.50) ... Two Texas decathletes have automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships. Junior Trey Hardee holds the top mark in the country with 7,839 points, while sophomore Donovan Kilmartin is fourth with 7,650 points ... Sophomore Marshevet Hooker has had a hand in four qualifiers so far this season. She has the second-longest mark nationally in the long jump (21-10), the eighth-fastest time in the 100 meters (11.37), the 53rd-fastest time in the 400 meters (54.38) and anchored the 4x100-meter relay to the fastest mark in the country (43.25) ... Junior Melaine Walker currently holds the fastest time in the nation in the 400-meter hurdles (55.37) and the ninth-fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles (13.22). She is a two-time Penn Relays champion, winning the high school girls 400-meter hurdles in 2001 and 02 ... Junior Ashlee Williams has the second-best mark in the country in the 100-meter hurdles (12.83). It was the fastest time in the world when she set it at the Texas Relays (3/26) ... The Longhorn women hold the nation's fastest mark in the 4x100-meter relay (43.25) and the the country's second-fastest mark in the 4x400-meter relay (3:31.29) ... Sophomore Michelle Carter has posted regional qualifiers in both the shot put (54-10.75) and the discus (171-0).
Meet Info/Results
For meet information and complete results on the 111th Penn Relays Carnival, visit either www.TexasSports.com or .
Track on TV
NBC will broadcast various events from the 111th Penn Relays Carnival on Saturday, April 30 from 3-5 p.m. (Central).
Regional Qualifiers
The Texas men have had 23 athletes and a relay team post 26 regional or NCAA-qualifying marks, while the women's team has had 10 athletes and a two-relay teams post 16 regional qualifiers already this season.
TEXAS AT THE PENN RELAYS: The Penn Relays have been a staple on the Texas Track and Field schedule throughout the past decade. During that time, the Longhorns have racked up 26 individual or relay titles. The women's team has produced 15 event victories, while the men's team has posted 11 championships. The women's 4x400-meter relay team has been the most dominant, notching nine victories since 1995 including a run of five in a row from 1995-99. Four of the men's 11 titles have come in the high jump. Sophomore Andra Manson won the event at last year's Carnival to go along with the three titles secured by Mark Boswell from 1998-2000.
IN THE POLLS: Texas has been a mainstay in the Trackwire 25 since the initial poll was released on April 5. The women's team took the top spot in the April 12th poll and have held on to it through the last three polls. The men started the season ranked seventh and have held firm at No. 12 over the past two weeks. Here is a look at their week-by-week rankings so far this season:
Men's Rankings
Week Rank (Pts.)
4/5 7th (26)
4/1 29th (22)
4/19 12th (20)
4/26 12th (20)
Women's Rankings
Week Rank (Pts.)
4/5 6th (36)
4/12 1st (66)
4/19 1st (68)
4/26 1st (65)
DUAL THREAT: Juniors Brian Robison and Michael Huff have been extremely busy during the indoor and outdoor track seasons in 2005. Both athletes were instrumental in Texas' 38-37 victory over Michigan in the 2005 Rose Bowl. Robison is a defensive end during the fall, while Huff, who returned to track after spring football practice ended, is one of the nation's top safeties. Robison has already posted regional marks in the shot put and discus, while Huff ran the first leg in Texas' 4x100-meter relay qualifier.
DYNAMIC DUO: Junior Trey Hardee and sophomore Donovan Kilmartin are two of the top multi-event performers in the country. They finished two-three at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the heptathlon and now have their sites set on a similar, if not better, finish in the decathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Both have already automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships as a result of their performances at this year's Texas Relays. Hardee took the decathlon with the nation's top mark, 7,839 points, which was just six points off the UT record. Kilmartin placed second with 7,650 points, the fourth-best mark in the country this season. The two will be looking to become the first duo to score 8,000 points at the national meet since Tennessee's Brian Brophy and Aric Long did it in 1992.
DEYAF'S DAY: Freshman Hamza Deyaf had the best day of his young career at the Rice Bayou Classic on Saturday, April 2. He torched the field in the 400-meter hurdles with a regional-qualifying time of 51.22. That time was the fourth-fastest in the nation when he set it and is now the 18th-fastest. Deyaf started his track career in Cary, N.C. before moving to Plano, Texas prior to his senior season. The move didn't seem to hurt him at all as he earned all-state, all-region and all-conference honors as a junior at Cary High School and a senior at Plano East. The transition to college hasn't seemed to effect him either as he has won three of his first four races during the 2005 outdoor season.
ONE FOR THE THUMB: Sophomore Andra Manson won his fifth championship while at Texas after winning the 2005 Big 12 Indoor Championship in the high jump with a leap of 7-5 (2.26m) on Saturday, Feb. 26. Manson swept all four titles (Big 12 indoor and outdoor, NCAA indoor and outdoor) during his freshman campaign and became the first Texas athlete since Mark Boswell (2000) to win both the indoor and outdoor national championships in the high jump. Now, he returns to the site of his 2004 Penn Relays title in hopes of of repeating the same way Boswell did in both 1999 and 2000. Manson's top jump of this outdoor season, a 7-2.50, came at the Texas Relays earlier this month. He notched a 7-5 to win the title at the Penn Relays last year.
QUINCY'S FINEST: Junior Quincy Boles has already posted a regional qualifier in the 100 meters during the 2005 outdoor season. He clocked a 10.44 at the Texas Invitational on March 26, which is the sixth-fastest time in the Midwest region. The time is just .06 off of his personal best of 10.38. But, Boles is accustomed to setting personal bests after an indoor season that saw him match or set personal bests on three different occasions. He entered the 2005 indoor season with a personal best of 6.76 in the 60 meters. He matched that time once during the season, at the Father Diamond Invitational on Jan. 15, before breaking it twice at the Big 12 Championships. In Boles' first race, he clocked a 6.72 to move on to the semifinals, where he posted a 6.69, which is now his career best. He went on to finish fourth at the Big 12 Championships in 6.77.
FOUR TEXANS: Senior Ryan Ponsonby (Denton, Texas) and freshmen Leonel Manzano (Marble Falls, Texas) and Kyle Miller (Katy, Texas) posted regional times in the 1,500 meters at the Oregon Invitational on April 23. At the same meet, freshman Erik Stanley (Spring, Texas) notched a qualifier in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:09.45. The four Texans will join forces at the Penn Relays to compete in the 4xMile relay against some of the best competition in the country. Manzano currently has the 1,500's ninth-fastest time in the country, a 3:42.84, which he set in winning the event at the Oregon Invitational. Ponsonby's time (3:43.49) is 13th-best and Miller's time (3:46.22) is 48th-best. Stanley ran the 1,500 meters at Texas' first meet of the outdoor season posting a 3:52.51.
IN THE GENES: Following a stellar indoor season that saw her win the Big 12 Championship and finish second at the national meet, sophomore Michelle Carter has posted qualifiers in the shot put at every meet and qualifiers in the discus in her last three events. She now stands sixth on the national list in the shot put (54-10.75) and 18th in the discus (177-7). This, after setting UT's indoor school record in the shot put with a throw of 58-6.50 at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 12. The throw broke an 11-year old record held by Eileen Vanisi (58-1.75). But, it is no wonder that she is such a success in the shot put considering her father Michael's accomplishments. He was the silver medalist in the shot put at the 1984 Olympic Games and still holds the national high school record in the event. He set the record in 1979 and since then, no one has come within five feet of his throw (81-3.50). Michelle also holds the national high school record in the shot put with a throw of 54-10.
DO IT ALL: Sophomore Marshevet Hooker did it all for the Longhorns during the 2005 indoor season. She was UT's top scorer at the Big 12 Championships with 26 points thanks to a victory in the long jump and two second-place finishes in the 60 meters and the 200 meters. She has picked up right where she left off and has already qualified for the national meet in four events. She posted a leap of 21-10 in winning the long jump at the Texas Relays. She's recorded the nation's eighth-fastest time in the 100 meters (11.37) and anchored the 4x100-meter relay to the nation's fastest time (43.25). She has also notched a qualifier in the 400 meters with a time of 54.38. Trackwire's Dandy Dozen has the San Antonio native ranked second in both the 100 meters and the long jump according to their most recent release.
JAMAICA, ESSEX, TEXAS: Junior Melaine Walker has blazed an interesting trail on her way to the 40 Acres. While in high school at St. Jago in Kingston, Jamaica, Walker set the junior national record in the 400m hurdles with a 55.62. She went on to win the high school girls 400m hurdles at the Penn Relays in both 2001 (57.85) and 2002 (58.88). She moved on to Essex County, where she became a five time NJCAA national champion and 11 time NJCAA All-American. Now, at Texas, Walker has found her groove. She recorded seven personal bests during competition at the Big 12 Championships, while finishing second in th 60-meter hurdles, third in the 60 meters and fourth in the 200 meters. Walker has already established herself on a national level and currently holds the top time in the country in the 400m hurdles (55.37) and his ranked ninth in the 100m hurdles (13.22).
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES: After spending her first two seasons at Texas as one of the top middle distance performers in the Big 12, junior Sheretta Jones has turned her attention to the hurdles. The Houston, Texas native has bettered her time in each of her five races. In her first race at the Texas Invitational, Jones recorded a 1:00.55. She then broke the minute-mark in just her third hurdle race ever with a 59.67 at the Texas Relays. Now, she is ranked 16th in the nation after posting a 58.53 at the Michael Johnson Invitational. On top of her new role in the hurdles, Jones is part of the nation's second-fastest 4x400-meter relay team and is also a first-team Academic All-Big 12 performer.
RELAY UNIVERSITY: Since coming to Texas, head coach Bev Kearney has had great success with the relay events. Under her guidance, the Texas women have produced 12 national championships and they may have a chance to add two more to their collection this season. The Longhorns hold the nation's fastest time in the 4x100-meter relay behind juniors Ashlee Williams and Melaine Walker and sophomores Jerrika Chapple and Marshevet Hooker. UT has the second-fastet time in the 4x400-meter relay thanks to juniors Sheretta Jones, LaTashia Kerr, Walker and Chapple.
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