No. 14 Women's Track & Field posts six victories at Leonard Hilton Memorial
Jan. 18, 2013
HOUSTON – The No. 14 Texas Women’s Track & Field team returned to the track Friday, competing at the University of Houston Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational. For the second straight meet, the Longhorns turned in five individual event wins in addition to a victory in the 4x400-meter relay. “We wanted to get a real workout in today,” said Texas interim head coach Rose Brimmer. “We knew that this meet would be great preparation before we go to Arkansas for the Razorback meet next weekend. So we loaded up in multiple events for many of the girls to make sure to get a good workout from today. I’d say it was mission accomplished.” Texas started the day off strong in the field events. Sophomore Kaitlin Petrillose placed first in pole vault and set new school and meet records in the process, clearing a height of 13-09.25 (4.20m). Senior Natasha Masterson was close behind, tying for second in the event with a height of 12-09.50 (3.90m). Also earning a first-place finish early was junior Shanay Briscoe in the high jump with a mark of 5-08.75 (1.75m). Senior Alicia Peterson competed in the event for the first time this season and placed third with a leap of 5-05.00 (1.65m). The Longhorns then picked up right where they left off in the running events following a strong showing at the season-opening Crimson Tide Indoor meet last weekend. UT finished 1-2-3 in the 60-meter dash with senior Chalonda Goodman leading the way for the win in the final (7.54) after qualifying second in both of her previous heats. Junior Christy Udoh (7.56) was just two-tenths of a second behind for second place and sophomore Morgan Snow (7.59) crossed third. Also competing for Texas in the 60m was junior Danielle Dowie, who finished sixth in 7.70. For the second meet in a row, Snow also earned an individual victory in the 60-meter hurdles, winning all three of her heats including the final, where she clocked a time of 8.28. Junior A’Lexus Brannon (8.54) and freshman Melissa Gonzalez (8.74) finished back-to-back in the event in fourth and fifth place. Brannon also competed in long jump for Texas, leaping a third-place earning 19-00.75 (5.81m). Rounding out the individual wins for UT was Udoh in the 200-meter with a time of 24.07. She was followed by freshmen Bernice Bamgbade (fifth, 25.47) and Kiersten Duncan (ninth, 25.97). Texas recorded a 1-2 finish in the 4x400-meter relay, led by the Longhorn team of sophomore Chamique Francis, freshman Courtney Okolo, junior Briana Nelson and Dowie. The quartet crossed in 3:45.52, followed by UT’s ‘B’ team of Peterson, Udoh, Gonzalez and Goodman, who placed second in 3:51.15. In the 400m, Okolo was the top collegiate finisher and placed third overall with a time of 54.23. Francis turned in a personal-best performance in the event, clocking 58.63 for eighth. Sophomore Jessica Harper led the way for the Longhorns on the distance side, recording a personal-best time of 4:57.58 in the Mile run for second place. Redshirt freshmen Connor Ward and Alaina Perez also competed in the Mile in their first races on the track for Texas. Ward finished ninth (5:07.22) and Perez crossed 20th (5:33.12). Two more redshirt freshmen made their Texas debut in the distance races. Marissa Lee and Marissa Pekarek took the reins for UT in the 5,000-meter with Lee posting second in 18:20.51 and Pekarek crossing fourth in 19:04.57. Ward, Perez and Harper represented UT in the distance medley relay along with freshman Cody McCrary, who was also competing in her first race as a Longhorn. The team placed third in 12:22.07. Texas had a pair of runners in the 800-meter in Nelson and freshman Caroline Cartwright. Nelson ran a 2:20.41 for eighth place while Cartwright finished in 2:39.01 (22nd). The Longhorns will compete at the Razorback Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25-26. Hosted by the University of Arkansas, the meet will be the first of two in which UT will participate in Fayetteville during the 2013 indoor season. TEXAS RESULTS – LEONARD HILTON MEMORIAL INVITATIONAL High jump Pole vault 60m hurdles (prelims) 60m hurdles (semifinals) 60m hurdles (final) Long jump 60m (prelims) 60m (semifinals) 60m (final) 800m 400m 5,000m Mile 200m Distance medley relay 4x400m relay
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