ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- With three weeks left until the Big 12, the Texas Longhorns appear to be gearing up for the postseason after posting a number of impressive performances Friday and Saturday at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic.
Kaitlin Petrillose smashed her own UT pole vault mark and entered the collegiate record book on Saturday at the non-scored meet featuring athletes from 24 other schools and as well as post-collegians.
Petrillose easily defeated the 26-woman pole vault field with clearance of 14 feet, 7 1/4 inches (4.45m). That height easily passed her previous school record of 14-2 1/4 set in winning the title at the 2013 Big 12 championships in Ames, Iowa. Petrillose also moved to the top of the 2014 NCAA leaderboard with a mark that ranks tied for eighth on the all-time collegiate indoor performers list.
They posted top-five national times Saturday in three other events -- the 60 meters, 400m and the 4x400-meter relay.
Courtney Okolo led an impressive 1-2-3 finish in the 400 meters with a personal-best time of 52.40 seconds (52.51 after altitude conversion), a time that places her No. 2 on the 2014 NCAA performers list. Danielle Dowie was second in 53.46 (53.57 after conversion -- No. 14 nationally). Kendall Baisden, who is already tied for eighth in the country with her personal-best 53.27 clocked last week, was third in 53.59.
No. 5 Georgia, No. 8 Kentucky at the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite Meet
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Georgia junior Morgann Leleux reached a season-high pole vault mark of 14-1.75 to be the second collegiate finisher. She had a second-attempt clearance that boosted her to tops in the SEC and No. 6 on the current NCAA performance list.
On the track, senior Leslie Boozer clocked the fastest time of her career in the 3000 (9:39.58) to take second.
Kentucky's Dezerea Bryant and Kendra Harrison have carried the banner for the Wildcats for much of 2014, and Friday’s performances were no exception.
Each won her signature event. Harrison claimed the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8 seconds flat, after clocking 7.97 in the preliminary heats, one one-hundreth off her nation-leading personal best performance. Bryant won the 60m dash in 7.27.
No. 10 UCLA at Texas A&M Aggie Invitational
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- UCLA placed fifth in the Texas A&M Aggie Invitational that was held in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium this weekend. The 10th-ranked Bruins compiled 72 points.
Kylie Price, the national leader in the long jump, took the weekend off away from the runway but did compete in the 60m, where she won the event in a time of 7.48.
The high jump proved to be a strong event for the Bruins as Caroline Gyllenbern and Zibby Boyer placed 1-2. Gyllenbern cleared 5-7.25 to win the event while Boyer followed with a leap of 5-5.25.
