AUSTIN – The Texas women’s track and field team claimed its fifth NCAA title on its home turf after registering 83 points at the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held June 7-10 at UT’s Mike A. Myers Stadium.
The Longhorn women recorded a program-high 83 points in their first championship victory since 2005. Dominating the meet in points, Texas finished with a 32-point margin over runner-up Florida.
Ackelia Smith earned the team’s first 10 points, taking the gold medal in the long jump on Thursday. The Longhorns’ first title claimed Saturday night was the 4x100-meter relay team as it defended its title, running the event in 41.60 seconds.
Julien Alfred celebrated her birthday by repeating the gold medal in the 100-meters (10.72 seconds). She swept the event this year, also claiming the indoor title while being undefeated in the race all season. Oklahoma’s Kennedy Blackmon placed second while UT sprinters Kevona Davis and Ezinne Abba placed fifth and seventh, respectively. Texas Tech’s Rosemary Chukwuma had a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter run.
Rhasidat Adeleke claimed the Longhorns’ first individual title in the 400-meter run since 2017 setting a personal best, the facility record and the meet record (49.20 seconds).
Not finished on Saturday night, Alfred claimed the 200-meter title (21.73 seconds) while teammates Kevona Davis and Lanae Thomas garnered top-5 finishes.
The Conference swept both the combined events as UT’s Leo Neugebauer claimed the decathlon with the NCAA’s highest 8,836 points while OU freshman Pippi Lotta Enok became the first Sooner to claim the heptathlon scoring 6,165 points.
TTU’s Courtney Lindsey rounded out the Big 12’s national champions as he placed first in the men’s 100-meters crossing the finish line with the collegiate leading mark of 9.89 seconds. Lindsey is the second Red Raider to win an NCAA outdoor title in the 100-meters.
Other Big 12 silver medalists include OU’s Vernon Turner (men’s high jump), OSU’s Gabija Galvydyte (women’s 800m), UT’s Yusuf Bizimana (men’s 800m) and Ackelia Smith (women’s triple jump) and TTU’s Courtney Lindsey (men’s 200m).
Additional Big 12 bronze medalists were BU’s Nathaniel Ezekiel (men’s 400m hurdles) and Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi (men’s javelin), UT’s Kristine Blazevica (women’s heptathlon) and Kevona Davis (women’s 200m), TTU’s Zach Bradford (men’s pole vault), Terrence Jones (men’s 200m) and Ruta Lasmane (women’s triple jump) while WVU’s Ceili McCabe (women’s 3,000m steeplechase) rounded out the list.
Big 12 National Champions:
Pippi Lotta Enok, Oklahoma – Women’s Heptathlon
Leo Neugebauer, Texas – Men’s Decathlon
Texas (J. Alfred, R. Adeleke, E. Abba and K. Davis) – Women’s 4x100 Meter Relay
Rhasidat Adeleke, Texas – Women’s 400 Meters
Julien Alfred, Texas – Women’s 100 Meters and 200 Meters
Ackelia Smith, Texas – Women’s Long Jump
Courtney Lindsey, Texas Tech – Men’s 100 Meters