Track and Field looks to defend Big 12 titles

Published by David Wiechman/Texas SID on May 11th, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Track & Field looks to defend its titles this weekend as the Longhorns take on their rivals at the Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Fort Worth. Action begins on campus at TCU on Friday and runs through Sunday evening with Texas hoping to repeat as both men's and women's champions.

This year's Big 12 Championships will feature some of the top teams and individual talent in the nation with many of the athletes eyeing a potential spot on an Olympic roster this summer. Texas has a number of athletes hoping to participate in Rio this summer but first the Longhorns want to light the tower on campus at The Forty Acres.

"We have to capitalize on our strengths, and that's been the great thing these last few meets that we've had. The coaches are doing a great job getting people peaked at the right time," said Head Coach Mario Sategna. "Definitely for us, our goal every year as a program is to win the Big 12 Championship and then to utilize that to springboard into the regional and ultimately the National Championships."

Both Texas teams enter this week ranked No. 5 in the latest USTFCCCA Rankings but are not alone in the Top 10 in the Big 12. Texas Tech's men stand No. 8 and Kansas State's women are No. 9. Those teams represent threats to the Longhorns from defending their titles as well as other Top 25 teams. For the men Kansas (23) and TCU (24) are also among the nation's best while on the women's side Oklahoma (15), Oklahoma State (18), Texas Tech (19) and Baylor (20) are also ranked in the Top 25.

Action is set to start from Lowdown Track & Field Complex at 9 a.m. Friday with the hammer throw. Combined Events are slated to begin at 2:30 p.m. Friday. Men's pole vault and javelin also will be held on Friday and the first day of action will close with the 10,000 meters. Saturday's schedule will include the conclusion of the Combined Events, preliminaries for running events and a handful of field events beginning at 10 a.m. The final day of the meet starts at 11 a.m. with field events. Running finals start at 4:30 p.m.