ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Texas' women finished second in an epic showdown with Arkansas at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship, while the men tied for sixth in the event that concluded Saturday at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The national title came down to the final event, the 4x400m relay, as Arkansas won the women's title with 64 points, just edging out Texas' 60. It was UT's second-straight NCAA Indoor Championship runner-up finish for the women. The Razorbacks also won the men's championship with 63 points, while the defending NCAA Indoor Champion Longhorns were tied for sixth with 25.
Coach Edrick Floreal and the women's squad were led by a historic effort from sprinter Julien Alfred, who won both the 60m and 200m titles, as well as running a leg on the second-place 4x400m relay squad. Along with that record-setting meet from Alfred, the UT women had three second-place finishes, registered five school records, and nine recorded top-eight finishes which garnered first-team All-America honors. UT's men's scoring was fueled by a one-two finish in the 800m as well as a third-place effort in the heptathlon.
Alfred's indoor season-long re-writing of the NCAA record book continued as she broke her own collegiate record in the 60-meter dash twice in both the prelims (6.96) and finals (6.94) and added the collegiate record in the 200m (22.01) in winning that event. Her sweep of those two events came in less than an hour in Albuquerque as she joined Longhorn Legend Carlette Guidry (who won the NCAA indoor titles in the 55m and 200m in 1990 and 1991) as the only UT women to win the short sprint events at the same championship.
Alfred began her Saturday by winning the 60m dash and lowering her collegiate record time to 6.94 seconds, which matches the second-fastest time ever run and is just .02 seconds off the world record. She broke her own mark in each of her last three races and now holds the top nine 60m times in collegiate history as well as the top-11 ever by a Longhorn. The St. Lucia native and eight-time indoor All-American went undefeated in the 60m this indoor season. She later completed the sprint double with a collegiate indoor record and world-leading time of 22.01 in the 200m. That time ranks as the second-fastest time ever recorded indoors, trailing only Merlene Ottey's world record of 21.87 set 30 years ago in 1993. Alfred has earned indoor All-American honors in both the 60m and 200m at the each of the NCAA Championships she's competed in (2020, 2022, 2023). Lanae-Tava Thomas added three team points in the 200m, finishing sixth with her time of 22.73.
Rhasidat Adeleke continued her spectacular, record-setting sophomore season, finishing as the 400m runner-up with a time of 50.45. In her first collegiate season running the 400m, she was second to Britton Wilson of Arkansas who set the new collegiate record with a time of 49.48 in the win. Adeleke, already a six-time indoor All-American who set the school indoor record and Ireland national record in winning the 2023 Big 12 title in a time of 50.33, now holds the top three indoor 400m times in UT history.
Adeleke and Alfred also helped the Longhorns to a runner-up finish in the 4x400m relay, teaming with Rachel Helbling and Kennedy Simon to clock a UT indoor record time of 3:25.67 for its final eight team points of the meet. That time eclipsed the school record time of 3:26.73 set by that same foursome earlier this year. It took a collegiate record time of 3:21.75 for Arkansas to win the event and securing the team tittle.Â
Sophomore Ackelia Smith led the Longhorn field event efforts, becoming the first Texas woman ever to finish among the top-three in both the long and triple jumps at the same NCAA Championship. After taking second-place in the long jump on Friday with a personal-best leap of 6.88m/22-7, the second-best indoor jump in UT history, trailing only Tara Davis' then collegiate record and NCAA winning mark of 22-9 in 2021. The five-time All-American added a third-place showing in the triple jump on Saturday, shattering her own UT indoor record by more than a foot (14.29m/46-10.75) on her final attempt of the competition. Also the school outdoor record holder (14.36m/47-11.25), Smith now has the top four indoor triple jumps in school history.
Valery Tobias was the final Longhorn to score points on the women's side on Saturday, finishing sixth in the 800m with her time of 2:03.25. The two-time indoor 800m All-American broke her own school indoor record with a 2:02.07 clocking in the prelims and now owns the top-five indoor 800m times in Texas history.Â
On the men's side, a late surge and 1-2 finish in the 800m pushed the Horns into sixth place as Yusuf Bizimana became just the second Longhorn ever to win that event — either indoor or outdoor — and posted a UT indoor record time of 1:46.02 in the process. He joins Jacob Hernandez, the 2008 NCAA Outdoor and 2009 Indoor Champ, as the only Longhorns to win a national title in that event. Senior Crayton Carrozza secured a runner-up finish (1:46.78) for an 18-point Texas scoring onslaught. The Bizimana-Carrozza duo has taken turns holding the school-record and now holds the top-four indoor 800m times in UT history.
Leo Neugebauer provided valuable third-place points in the multi-event, recording a personal-best score in the heptathlon and taking down Trey Hardee's 17-year-old Texas program record (6,208 / 2006) with a score of 6,214 points. The four-time indoor All-American who matched his NCAA Indoor Championship third-place finish from a year ago, ended the final three events of Saturday in the 1,000m and posted a personal-best time of 2:43.55 to push him into bronze medal position. With Kristine Blazevica taking fifth-place in Friday's pentathlon competition, one spot better than 2022 in that event. Texas is the only school in the country to have both a men's and women's multi-event competitor finish in the top-five of their event at this year's NCAA Indoor Championships.
Solomon Washington provided more field event points in the long jump with an eighth-place finish in his first NCAA Championship on Friday night. His All-American earning jump of 7.97m/26-1.75 moved him into the No. 5 spot on the UT all-time indoor performers list.
Next up for the Longhorns is the outdoor season, beginning with a trip to the USF Invitational in Tampa on Friday-Saturday, March 17-18. That's followed by the 95th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays presented by Truist March 29-April 1 at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Texas wil host the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 7-10.Â
