Women's Track and Field preview: Tyson Invitational
AUSTIN, Texas -- The last time the Texas women's track and field team went to Fayetteville, Ark., they came back with a National Championship. Although this trip is too early in the season for a repeat performance, the ninth-ranked Longhorns will still compete against a high-level of competition at the 2007 Tyson Invitational. The two-day meet starts on Friday evening (Feb. 9) and concludes on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 10) at the Randal Tyson Track and Field Center. The participating teams include (Trackwire 25 and USTFCCCA national rankings are listed): Defending NCAA Outdoor Champion Auburn, currently ranked eighth and 10th, top-ranked Arizona State, No 4/2 Michigan, No. 23 Florida, No. 20/15 Georgia Tech, No. 12 Georgia, No. 16 Oregon, and No. 2/4 Stanford. Fellow conference programs No. 7/6 Texas Tech, Baylor, Nebraska and Kansas will also be in attendance. 2004 NCAA Outdoor Champion UCLA is entered in the meet. The event takes place at one of the best indoor facilities in the nation -- The Randal Tyson Track and Field Center. The red and gray Mondo surface is a 200-meter, 60-degree banked track with 55-meter straightaways and men's and women's jumping pits in the center of the track. TYSON INVITATIONAL NOTES 100th Millrose Games... Last weekend, the trio of Destinee Hooker, Alexandria Anderson and Chauntae Baynesmall headed to the 100th Millrose Games. Hooker's trip proved successful as she met the automatic standard for the second consecutive outing, clearing the high jump bar at 6-00.75 (1.84m). Bayne and Anderson finished 2-3 in the 60-meter dash college section, running 7.36 and 7.42, respectively. Bayne's time is the 11th fastest in the nation while Anderson's time was four-hundredths of a second off her season-best. Houston Indoor Classic... Michelle Carter automatically qualified in winning the shot put with a throw of 55-5.75 (16.91m). The reigning NCAA Indoor national champion, who provisionally qualified in Houston earlier in the year, secured a bid to nationals to defend her title in bettering the automatic standard of 16.91 meters for the third farthest throw in the nation this season. Katara Rosby won the 800-meter run and Betzy Jimenez was the top finished in the 3000-meter run. Leonard Hilton Memorial Classic... Five event wins pushed UT ahead a field of 15 teams to win the Leonard Hilton Memorial Meet. The Longhorns accumulated 134 points through 15 scored events (10 points for first, eight for second, six for third, etc). Destinee Hooker met the automatic standard in the high jump, and Michelle Carter and Alexandria Anderson went provisional in the shot put and the 60-meter dash, respectively. Team rankings this season... Week 1 (1/15): Texas started the journey to defend its title with a fifth-place ranking in the Jan. 15 edition of the Trackwire 25 poll...The hypothetical score for the first week was 28 using points from Michelle Carter, Alexandria Anderson, Destinee Hooker and the 4x400-meter relay. Week 2 (1/23): The Longhorns dropped to eighth in the rankings and lost seven points (21 points). Week 3 (1/29): After a week off, two teams moved ahead of UT, placing the Longhorns at 10th in the poll (20 points). Week 4 (2/5): Strong performances by Arizona State, Texas A&M and LSU shifted the balance of power and UT's standings in the top 10. The Longhorns settle at No. 13 with 18 points. Up next for UT... Texas will train until the 2007 Big 12 Track and Field Championships from Friday, Feb. 23 to Saturday, Feb. 24., at the Lied Recreation and Athletic Facility on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
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