2005-06 Men's Track and Field year in review
Three NCAA top-seven finishes, All-America honors in 16 indoor and outdoor track and field events, two Big 12 championships, two collegiate records, one NCAA Midwest Regional title and one cross country All-American made the 2005-06 campaign one of the finest all-around Texas men's track and field/cross country seasons in the program's history. Texas was one of only two men's track and field programs to place in the top seven at the NCAA cross country (7th) and indoor (4th) and outdoor (3rd) track and field meets. The Longhorns capped their tremendous collegiate season by adding three top-five finishes this past weekend at the 2006 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. No other school had more than one student-athlete place in the top five at the meet. Cross Country UT placed four runners -- Thorne, sophomore Leonel Manzano, Von Letscher and junior Matt Munoz -- in the top 10 at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, where the Longhorns placed second. Thorne led Texas once more at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, as he placed 13th to help UT to a seventh-place finish, marking Texas' best showing since 1991 and the fifth top-10 finish in school history. Indoor Track and Field Texas rode victories in four events and a slew of top-five finishes on its way to its first Big 12 indoor team title since 1999. Senior Dylan Wykes, junior Alan Bean, senior Tomas Finol and Manzano led UT to its first distance-medley relay title at a Big 12 indoor meet with a time of 9:49.59. Kilmartin rewrote his meet and facility records to capture the heptathlon. Junior Andra Manson added yet another conference title in the high jump, and Manzano captured the mile for the second time in as many indoor conference meets. Texas registered its highest point total and tied for the best finish in school history by placing fourth with 35 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Kilmartin led UT by capturing his second NCAA heptathlon title with 6,048 points, and Manson tied for second in the high jump with a top clearance of 7-5. Texas garnered fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the 60 meters from sprint newcomers Jamaal Charles and Trey Griffin, respectively. UT also collected seventh-place finishes in the DMR (D. Brown, J. Davis, K. Miller, J. Morse), shot put (Robison), long jump (Hardee), and mile (Manzano), as well as an eighth-place finish from senior Ronald Hill in the long jump. Outdoor Track and Field Texas captured its first Big 12 outdoor title since 2003 with a total of 135 points, topping second-place Nebraska by 44.5 points. Kilmartin claimed the decathlon title, and Robison won the discus and shot put, breaking Oskar Jakobsson's 24-year-old school record in the latter event. Manson took top honors in the high jump, and Charles ran away with the 100 meters. Texas' outdoor success continued when it hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Austin. UT's 4x100-meter relay team of Griffin, Hill, Charles and senior Quincy Boles took first and set a new meet record in 39.19. Junior Derek Randall became only the fourth Longhorn to throw 200 feet in the discus, winning the event to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Manson contributed another victory in the high jump, and Robison raised his school shot put record with a toss of 68-3.75. Texas captured the team title with nearly 92 points, outdistancing second-place UTEP by almost 20 points. The Longhorns capped the regular season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with 36 points. Manson garnered his fifth All-America honor by taking second in the high jump (7-5). Robison fell less than two inches shy of a national title in the shot put, as he took second with a toss of 66-5 1/4. Manzano completed an excellent sophomore season with a fourth-place finish in the 1,500 meters, while Kilmartin took fifth in the decathlon. Charles capped off an outstanding two-sport season by placing fifth in the 100 meters and seventh in the 200 meters. He became a four-time indoor and outdoor All-American, as he ran the third leg of UT's fifth-place 4x100-meter relay along with Griffin, Hill and Boles. The quartet ran the third-fastest time in UT history (39.12) in the semifinals before clocking 39.22 in the finals. Randall became a first-time All-American when he took eighth in the discus (182-9), and sophomore Jake Morse, who took 12th place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, garnered All-America honors as the eighth American finisher in the race. Season Honors Assistant Coach Mario Sategna Quincy Boles Darren Brown Jamaal Charles Joseph Davis Tomas Finol Trey Griffin Trey Hardee Ronald Hill Donovan Kilmartin Andra Manson Leonel Manzano Kyle Miller Jake Morse Derek Randall Brian Robison Joe Thorne First-team Academic All-Big 12 Second-team Academic All-Big 12
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