The Texas Longhorns' middle-distance stars--Leonel Manzano and Jacob Hernandez--each took huge victories at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa to lead their team to a fourth-place finish over the weekend.
On the final day of the championships, Hernandez, a junior from Magnolia, took command of the 800 meters. USC's Duane Solomon took the finalists through 200 in 23.1, but Hernandez was right with him. Hernandez passed Solomon to lead through 400 in 50.96, with Solomon by his side, followed by LSU's Elkana Kosgei, Northern Iowa's Tyler Mudler, UTEP's Elias Koech, Tennessee's Yarrick Kincaid, Oregon's Andrew Wheating, and Washington's Austin Abbott.
Hernandez maintained his lead through 600 in 1:17.2 with only Solomon able to stay with him. As the two entered the straight, Wheating unleashed his kick and closed on Hernandez down the whole homestretch. But the Oregon runner ran out of room at the finish by the narrowest of margins as Hernandez won in 1:45.31 to 1:45.32.
"My coach knew I was strong," said Hernandez. "We just wanted to go out and leave it all on the track."
Hernandez, Wheating, and Solomon all broke the 30-year old Drake Stadium record of 1:45.86 set by Oklahoma's Randy Wilson in 1978, with Solomon finishing in 1:45.71.
In the 1500, UT senior Leo Manzano was determined to run his last collegiate race just like his first NCAAs which he won in 2005.
Manzano unexpectedly took the lead from the gun and led the field through a 58.1 first 400, with the entire field packed right behind including Stanford's Garrett Heath, Notre Dame's Kurt Benninger, Georgetown's Andrew Bumbalough and Dorian Ulrey from Northern Iowa. Mazano maintained his lead through the half in 2:03.2 with Heath, Ulrey, Benninger, and Texas teammate Darren Brown right on his heels.
But Manzano upped the tempo and pulled the field through 1200 in 3:01.3.
Ulrey made a move along the backstretch that electrified the hometown crowd, but Manzano's kick and experience was simply too much as the Marble Falls resident won by over a second in 3:41.23.
"I thought I'd give them something new," Manzano said of his competitors. "I knew I was the guy to beat, so I just wanted to stay in front and end it with a bang!"
Ulrey held on for silver in 3:42.56, while Wisconsin's Jack Bolas and Craig Miller claimed third and fourth respectively 3:42.57-3:42.67.
Next up for Manzano are the Olympic Trials where he'll try to reprise his showing last year at the USATF Championships where he earned a berth on the World Champs team.
Florida State won its third straight NCAA men's team championship in Des Moines. The LSU Tigers won the women's title.
