Mile relay highlights second day of NCAA Indoor Championships for No. 7 Women's Track & Field
March 9, 2013 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 7 Women’s Track & Field team wrapped up a busy weekend of competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The relay team, composed of juniors Danielle Dowie, Christy Udoh and Briana Nelson and freshman Courtney Okolo crossed in a Texas season-best time of 3:30.63, just .28 out of second place and .41 off of first. The quartet now ranks fourth on the UT all-time performers list, and the time is the fifth fastest in Texas history. The race marked the third straight at NCAA Indoors in which UT’s Mile relay finished in the top five. “We came in with a really strong team and we were definitely going out there to win,” Dowie said. “It was a really tight race and I felt like Courtney and Briana did a great job keeping us in on the last two legs. But everyone did her best and I’m really proud of us. We wanted to win, but we’ll get them outdoors.” In addition to the relay, three Longhorns earned their first individual All-America honors on Saturday. Sophomore Morgan Snow placed eighth (8.28) in her first 60-meter hurdles final after posting a PR to qualify out of Friday’s prelims. “It feels amazing to be an All-American and to have accomplished as much as I did this indoor season,” Snow said. “I think I could have done more in this race, but this puts me in a great position going into outdoor and I can’t wait to get back to work.” Also finishing eighth and were Nelson in the 400 meters and Chambers in the 800 meters, both of whom came into the day already three-time All-Americans in the Mile relay. Competing in her first NCAA Championship meet, redshirt freshman Kaitlin Petrillose contended in pole vault after setting a personal best and new UT record at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Petrillose finished tied for 10th with a clearance of 4.10m (13-5.25). Junior Shanay Briscoe kicked off competition for Texas for the second straight day. She placed 12th overall with 4,039 points in just her second collegiate pentathlon after qualifying 15th for NCAAs out of a 4,027-point performance at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. Briscoe began the day in the 60-meter hurdles, running a time of 8.85 for 941 points. She then won the high jump, her signature event, with a clearance of 6-0.5 (1.84 meters), which tied the indoor pentathlon meet record and earned her 1,029 points. She followed that with a second-place performance in shot put, tossing 41-2.25 (12.55 meters) on her second throw for 698 points. In the long jump, Briscoe leaped 17-11.5 (5.47 meters) on her third attempt for her best mark of the day and 691 points. She closed the pentathlon with a 2:31.01 (680 points) in the 800 meters. “I think we came in with a lot of ammunition, but we were lacking the that one fire, that one bell cow, that gets your team going,” interim head coach Rose Brimmer said. “We had a lot of people that made it to the finals, but we didn’t have any one individual that got the big place. I think that’s what we were missing, the big performance that everyone is able to feed off. The 4x400m relay got it done, though, and being able to end on a high note gives us some momentum going forward.” Of the 11 Longhorns who competed in the championship meet this weekend, seven came away 2013 Indoor All-America First Team honors in Chambers, Dowie, Nelson, Udoh, Sutherland, Snow and Okolo. UT finished 18th in the team standings with 12 points. Oregon won the indoor women’s championship for the third-straight year with 56. Texas will kick off its outdoor season March 15-16 at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego, Calif. TEXAS RESULTS – NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS | SATURDAY, MARCH 9 4x400m relay 60m hurdles final 400m final 800m final Pole vault Pentathlon Pentathlon 60m hurdles Pentathlon high jump Pentathlon shot put Pentathlon long jump Pentathlon 800m
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