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Track Nationals Highlight June Schedule

June welcomes the most anticipated meet of the year for the Texas men’s and women’s track and field teams – the 2007 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships (June 6-9) at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, CA. Both teams boast returning individual national champions and All-Americans and are ranked in the top 10 in the country in two national polls. Texas head women’s track and field/cross country coach Bev Kearney leads UT as they rely on elite individuals to compete in multiple events. UT has five marks ranked in the top 8 in the nation in their respective events including sophomore All-American Alexandria Anderson, who is in the top 10 in the 100 and the 200.

Seniors Chauntae Bayne and Michelle Carter join Anderson on the national leaders’ list in at least two events. Carter’s best chance at a second national title will come in the shot put but she is also an NCAA qualifier in the discus. Bayne and Anderson have met the NCAA region mark in the 100, 200, 400, and as a leg of both the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays.

Sophomore Destinee Hooker is the reigning national champion in the group, and enters the first week of June as one of the top high jumpers in the nation. As a rookie at the 2006 NCAA meet, she was instrumental in UT’s top 10 team finish.

The men’s team is equally talented under the tutelage of head men’s track and field coach Bubba Thornton, who was recently chosen to coach the U.S. track and field delegation at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Texas is poised to finish in the top five in both national polls. The Longhorns finished in third-place in 2006, which was their highest outdoor national finish since 1997 and only the 7th time since 1927 UT has placed that high. Two of those seven performances have come under current head coach Bubba Thornton.

Making the top five for a second consecutive season is definitely one of the goals for this season and the men’s track and field team has the depth and the balance to score points in every area. UT tallied 21 NCAA regional qualifiers heading into the 2007 Big 12 Outdoor Championship in mid-May.

The most experienced in the group are Andra Manson and Leo Manzano. Both are multi-time national champions since starting their freshmen years at UT, and All-Americans in the years since. Manson is one of the nation’s highest and most consistent high jumpers while Manzano is quickly gaining a reputation as the fastest miler in the NCAA.

A solid group of student-athletes are on Manson’s and Manzano’s heels, including sophomore football standout and sprinter Jamaal Charles, an NCAA finalist in the 100 in his first season on the Forty Acres; senior thrower Derek Randall, who finished eighth at the 2006 NCAA outdoor meet; and senior hurdler Hamza Deyaf, who has made multiple trips to the NCAA.

Welcomed additions, Harvard graduate and transfer, Samyr Laine and junior transfer Jacob Hernandez have scorched the national scene in their first year on the Forty Acres. Laine is a national leader in the triple jump and Hernandez is in the top five in the country and a strong contender for the 800-meter national title.

Longhorns fans looking for more information can visit ww.ncaasports.com for direct links to the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field schedule, results and qualifiers.