National Championship moments: 2006 Women's Indoor Track and Field
The Texas women's indoor track and field team continued its long line of success in 2006 with the Longhorns winning their sixth NCAA title and fifth Big 12 crown in nine years. Texas finished day one of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with the overall lead and never let up on day two, as Texas captured its sixth NCAA women's indoor championship at the University of Arkansas' Randal Tyson Track Center. Texas claimed the NCAA team title with 51 points, while Stanford finished a distant second with 36 points. Head coach Bev Kearney captured her sixth NCAA team title at Texas and her seventh over. It gave the Longhorns back-to-back NCAA track championships after claiming the 2005 outdoor title in Sacramento, Calif. Marshevet Hooker won a pair of national crowns, including the long jump title on the opening day and the 60-meter title on the second day. Hooker clocked a personal-best time of 7.197, edging UNLV's Ashley Owens by three one-thousandths of a second. Hooker ended the two-day meet with 25 points after securing her two NCAA individual titles and adding a fourth-place finish in Friday's 200-meter dash. Michelle Carter also won an individual title, winning the shot put with a personal best toss of 60-10.75 (18.56m). She topped her own UT record mark of 58-7.25 set exactly one year earlier. She became Texas' first NCAA indoor shot put champion since 1994, when former Longhorn great Eileen Vanisi captured the title. Texas' 4x400-meter relay squad of Sheretta Jones, Alexandria Anderson, LaTashia Kerr and Melanie Walker added six points to the Longhorns' tally by placing third in the event. The foursome posted a time of 3:30.76, providing the finishing touches on Texas' NCAA title victory. Walker also added four points for the Texas with a fifth-place showing in the 60-meter hurdles (8.07). Texas' final points were added by freshman sensation Destinee Hooker who finished third in the high jump and matching the top clearance turned in by the top two finishers. Hooker placed third because she cleared 6-1.25 on her second attempt, while the top two finishers cleared the height on their first attempts. As impressive as the Longhorns were at the NCAA Championships, they were equally impressive at the Big 12 Indoor Championships two weeks earlier at Nebraska's Devaney Sports Center. Texas won five events, including three first-place performances by Marshevet Hooker. Marshevet Hooker was named the meet's high-point winner after collecting 30 points and walking away with the 60-meter, 200-meter and long jump titles. Destinee Hooker continued to create her own legacy at UT, as she won her first Big 12 high jump title with a personal-best leap of 6-3.5, which tied the Devaney Sports Center record held by Olympian Amy Acuff. Dee Dee Cortez accounted for the final title, winning the 600-yard run in a personal-best time of 1:20.93. Texas trailed Nebraska by 40.5 points heading into the second day of the championships, as the Cornhuskers utilized strong performances in the pentathlon to assume the early lead, but Texas gradually chipped away before claiming the edge for good after the 200 meters and edged Nebraska 125-118 in the final tally of a two-team race.
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