Men's Track and Field wins second consecutive distance medley relay at Penn Relays
PHILADELPHIA -- After 111 years without a win in the distance medley relay at the Penn Relays, The University of Texas has scored two in a row. The Longhorns successfully defended the event championship and shattered the Texas school record for the second consecutive year, running 9:29.60 at the 2007 Penn Relays Carnival on Friday, April 27 at Franklin Field. "Anytime you come to Penn and defend your championship, it's a great feeling, it's a great moment for the University of Texas," beamed Longhorns' men's track and field head coach Bubba Thornton. "Our team represented themselves very well. [Associate head coach Jason] Vigilante has done a good job with those guys. They believe in themselves and they went out and did it today. In that particular race, you have the best in the country. They were all there. It's the championship of America; there are teams from Division I, Division II and Division III. It's truly a championship race." Junior Erik Stanley (Spring, Texas) opened the 1,200-meter segment of the race before handing off to junior All-American triple jumper Joseph Davis (San Antonio, Texas), who ran the next 400-meters. After one lap around the track, Davis exchanged with junior All-American Jacob Hernandez (Magnolia, Texas) for the 800-meter portion of the race. Hernandez gave the baton to junior national champion Leo Manzano (Marble Falls, Texas) who near the front of the pack until the bell lap. In the final lap, Manzano held the lead and gave Texas the win, despite charges from the anchors of second-place Villanova and third-place Tennessee. The time shattered the school record of 9:33.10 set by Jake Morse, Joseph Davis, Kyle Miller and Leo Manzano at the 112th Penn Relays Carnival in 2006. It marks the third time in the last three years, UT has cracked the top five Texas all-time DMR list. In the individual events, two UT seniors shined in the championship sections, placing in the top four of their events. Senior All-Big 12 honoree Hamza Deyaf (Richardson, Texas) ran 51.58 seconds in taking fourth in the championship section of the 400-meter hurdles. Senior All-American Derek Randall (Beeville, Texas) registered another stellar performance, tossing 187-5 (57.12m) in taking third in the championship section of the discus. The 4x100-meter relay finished third in the first heat, clocking 40.98 seconds to lead the consolation group. Seniors Brian Beach (Keller, Texas) and Trey Griffin (Lockhart, Texas) ran the first two segments. Sophomore hurdler Trevor Gerland (Katy, Texas) took the second exchange before handing off to senior national champion high jumper and relay anchor Andra Manson (Brenham, Texas). Sophomore All-American Jamaal Charles (Port Arthur, Texas) had an interesting 100-meter race. After an obvious false start was not called back, Charles caught up to the heat leader and finished in 10.67 seconds. Despite the effort, his time did not make it into the finals. Gerland came back to run a 14.44 in the 110-meter hurdles.
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