No. 7 Women’s Track & Field wins 14th Big 12 Indoor title, No. 7 Men finish third

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 7 women’s track and field program won the 2024 Big 12 Indoor Championships scoring 135 points. The No. 7 men’s team finished third with 89.  

Saturday’s title marks the 14^th overall indoor title for the Longhorns and was its ninth in 10 seasons. Head coach Edrick Florèal has now led the women to nine overall titles (5 indoor / 4 outdoor) in 11 competitions. The women were led by sophomore Dejanea Oakley who was named the Big 12 Indoor High Point Performer after scoring 20 points at the meet. It’s the 10^th time a Longhorn has earned the award and first time since Kynnedy Flannel in 2021.

The women championed six events at the meet and four on the final day. Emelia Chatfield ran away from the field in the 60-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 7.95 seconds. Freshman Akala Garrett finished sixth with a time of 8.27, totaling 13 points in the event.

Freshman Nina Ndubuisi claimed her first conference title, winning the women’s shot put with a throw of 18.07m (59-3.50). The throw ranks as the No. 4 performance in UT history. Chrystal Herpin finished as the runner-up with a personal-best throw of 17.48m (57-4.25), moving up to No. 4 on the UT all-time performer list. Marilyn Nwora rounded out the top-three performers with her throw of 17,23m (56-6.50).

Fellow freshman Akala Garrett paced the 600-yard run with her time of 1:19.04, sparked by a gutsy last 50 meters to score 10 points.

Oakley took home her first Big 12 title in the 400-meter dash with her time of 51.75. The personal best time moved her to No. 8 on the all-time performer list. Senior Ziyah Holman finished with the bronze medal from her time of 52.22, while freshman Lauren Lewis finished sixth in 52.76. The three Longhorns tallied 19 points in the event.

Oakley later added a runner-up finish in the 200-meter with another PB time at 22.86, matching the No. 10 time on the UT performer list.

Ackelia Smith added a fourth-place finish in the triple jump from her season-opening mark of 13.37m (43-10.50). The mark ranks as the No. 8 performance in UT history. She later added a fifth-place finish in the 60-meter with a time of 7.29, totaling 19 points at the meet after winning the long jump on Friday.

Trinity Tomlinson also made the podium with her third-place jump of 1.80m (5-10.75) in the high jump scoring six points. Senior Olivia Howell also finished third in the 800-meter with a personal-best time of 2:03.86.

The women’s final points were scored by Lewis, Oakley, Kenondra Davis and Holman after scoring eight in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:30.08 for second place. The time is the 12^th-fastest in school history.

On the men’s side, Yusuf Bizimana led the men’s team with the lone event win after tearing down the 1,000-meter race. Bizimana finished in 2:22.40, earning his eighth Big 12 title in his career. The time is the fourth-fastest time in school history. Bizimana’s win gave the Longhorns three events wins after Leo Neugebauer won the long jump and Jeremiah Nubbe claimed the weight throw on Friday.

Junior Kelsey Daniel finished .01 centimeters off first-place in the triple jump with his mark of 16.45m (53-11.75) to score eight points. Daniel now ranks as the No. 5 performer in UT history.

Senior Patrick Piperi finished with the bronze medal in the shot put with a season-best throw of 19.19m (62-11.50) to score six points.

Back on the track, sophomore Kendrick Smallwood finished fifth in the 60-meter hurdles (7.70) and sophomore Kody Blackwood finished eighth (7.96) to total five team points. The 400-meter was led by Brian Herron who finished fourth (45.82) and Logan Popelka (46.21 – PB) who finished sixth for eight points.

Junior Daniel Howells had a last effort surge in the 800-meter to finish as the runner-up with his time of 1:48.94. Howells added eight team points in his first conference meet. John Rutledge finished seventh in the 200m (20.94) and the men’s 4×400 relay of Popelka, Elijah Mosley, Chris Brinkley and Herron finished third with a time of 3:04.98 for the final six team points.