At the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, the Texas track and field team concluded their season with a solid third-place showing in the women’s competition and a 12th-place showing in the men’s.
Senior Leo Neugebauer performed brilliantly, successfully defending his championship in the decathlon with a record-breaking 8,961 points, which ranks sixth in world history. His incredible performance included a world-record discus throw of 57.70 metres, which solidified his reputation on the college and international platforms and helped the Longhorns win one of their three individual titles.
Junior Ackelia Smith made history by becoming the first Longhorn to sweep the horizontal jumps in the same national championships despite missing most of the outdoor season due to a hamstring injury.
Smith became the first female member of the team to win back-to-back medals in 18 years, successfully defending her long-jump crown with a strong 6.79-metre effort. With a record of 14.52 metres, she won the triple-jump title just two days later, demonstrating her remarkable skill and tenacity.
Smith’s historic victories and Bizimana’s accomplishments made the Longhorns shine.
Yusuf Bizimana, a senior, won his third All-American title in the 800-metre sprint, finishing in sixth place, almost two seconds behind the lead, to win three points for the men’s team. The relay teams also performed exceptionally well.
Elijah Mosley, Logan Popelka, John Rutledge, and Brian Herron placed sixth with a time of 3:01.41, the fourth fastest in school history, and Marcellus Moore, Nolton Shelvin, Almond Small, and John Rutledge finished fifth in the 4×100 metre relay with 38.99 seconds.
Senior Kristine Blazevica of the Longhorn women’s team demonstrated incredible resiliency by winning third place in the heptathlon with a season-best score of 6,126 points, despite the team’s overall ranking decline.
The squad earned six points, thanks to her outstanding performance, which included two second-place results in the 100-metre hurdles and javelin. Although Smith’s two national wins were insufficient to help the team retain the title, the women’s determination and competitive spirit allowed them to qualify for multiple finals on Saturday.