In the midst of what has already been a solid season, the Texas women’s track and field program produced another strong showing this weekend at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
With three meet wins and a multitude of other medals, the Texas women represented the Longhorns with a list of accolades in country’s top track meets.
Sophomore distance runner Sandie Raines finished second in the open 1500 meters with a time of 4:20.63, beating out many professionals along the way, to start Texas’ day Saturday. Along with Raines, freshmen Caitland Smith and Shania Collins each took home medals as well, finishing second and third, respectively, in the women’s open 200 meters.
But junior Morolake Akinosun turned in the highlight of the Longhorns’ performance over the weekend. Akinosun, who was named the Texas Relays’ most outstanding college performer, was in three of the four first-place events for Texas, with senior Ryan Crouser collecting the other win for Texas.
The first win came down to a close finish in the 4x100-meter race. The team of senior Morgan Snow, senior Ashley Spencer, junior Courtney Okolo, and Akinosun trailed Texas A&M out of lane five throughout the race — until Akinosun got her shot. With the last handoff, Akinosun grabbed the baton and overtook A&M sophomore Aaliyah Brown, achieving victory by less than two tenths of a second.
In the 100 meters, Akinosun took care of business by herself, clocking a blazing 10.94 seconds, albeit with the help of a 5.1m/s wind.
To close out the Texas Relays, the 4x400-meter relay, now named the Sanya Richards-Ross Invitational 4x400 Meter Relay, also came down to a close finish. Texas A&M got out to a large lead early on, but in the final lap, A&M’s anchor quickly fell off, giving way to the rest of the field. Florida made the early push and Arkansas came close, but Texas freshman Ariel Jones pushed her way to the front of the pack. She edged out the Gators, claiming a victory for Texas.
The No. 3 women’s team and the rest of the Longhorns now head into next week’s meet at Stanford with strong momentum.