Texas Relays

The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays are an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the first or second weekend of April.

Events are held in High School, College, University, and Invitational divisions.

History

In response to cold-weather conditions at the Kansas Relays,[1] the Texas Relays was started as a men's-only competition in 1925 by University of Texas coach Clyde Littlefield and athletic director Theo Bellmont.[2] The Relays were held at Memorial Stadium until Mike A. Myers Stadium was opened in 1999.[3] The meet was not held 1932-1934 as a result of The Great Depression.[3] Women's events were added in 1963.[3]

To encourage attendance in the early years of the event, various publicity stunts were staged. The most successful was a 1927 stunt in which three Tarahumaras were invited to the Relays. These men were famed as runners who never stopped running. A race was staged between the men from San Antonio to Memorial Stadium. After 14 hours and 53 minutes, the 89 mile race ended in a tie.[1]

In 1977, electronic timing was introduced at the Relays, and Olympic gold medalist and Texas Longhorns football player John Wesley Jones recorded a time of 9.85 seconds in the 100 meter dash. This would have set a world record, but it was determined that the timer malfunctioned, and the time was unofficial.[1]

The Texas Relays are currently the second largest track meet in the United States, behind only the Penn Relays.[4] Today, approximately 50,000 spectators and 5,000 athletes attend the events.[1][5]

Local impact

According to the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2007, the Relays generate US$8 million for local business.[6] Much of this traced to the fact that the event has become a social destination for young African-Americans. A number of groups organize networking and development events for African-Americans to take place in downtown Austin during the Relays.

Following numerous issues involving crime, theft and general violence many local businesses close for the Relays weekend.[7][8]

Some advocates of the Relays state that there is not a significant increase in crime during the Relays weekend. However, police forces are so overwhelmed with crowd control and keeping the peace that they will generally not take the time to write citations or arrest individuals for less serious offenses. Some businesses have chosen to not operate or to close early because it is more cost effective rather than pay for increased security for crowds who are not spending money or loss of income due to theft.[9][10][11][12]

Divisions

The University Division is open to schools in NCAA Division I. The College Division is open to schools in NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, or NJCAA schools. The University/College Division is open to schools that qualify for either division separately. The High School Division is separated into two levels, Division I and Division II. Division I is open to schools in the University Interscholastic League classes A, AA, or AAA (or their interstate equivalents). Division II is open to schools in UIL classes AAAA or AAAAA. Schools that normally compete in Division I may compete in Division II if they wish.[13]

Events held

Event Invitational Men Invitational Women University Men College Men University / College Women High School Boys High School Girls
100 m ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
1500 m ✓ ✓
1600 m ✓ ✓
Mile ✓
3200 m ✓ ✓
5000 m ✓ ✓
10000 m ✓ ✓
100 m hurdles ✓ ✓ ✓
110 m hurdles ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
400 m hurdles ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
2000 m steeplechase ✓ ✓
3000 m steeplechase ✓ ✓
High jump ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Pole vault ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Long jump ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Triple jump ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Shot put ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Discus throw ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Hammer throw ✓ ✓
Javelin throw ✓ ✓
Heptathlon ✓
Decathlon ✓
4x100m relay ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓ ✓
4x200m relay ✓ ✓ ✓
4x400m relay ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓
4x800 m relay ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
4x1500m relay ✓
1600m sprint medley ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Distance medley ✓ ✓ ✓

Source:.[14] Note: Some men's events are combined for the University and College divisions.

Meet records

Men

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref
100 m 9.97 (+1.2 m/s) Olapade Adeniken  Nigeria 4 April 1992
200 m 20.38 (+1.2 m/s) Ameer Webb  United States 29 March 2014 [15]
800 m 1:46.63 Leonel Manzano  United States 26 March 2015 [16]
1500 m 3:41.15 m Paul Larkins  Great Britain 1984
Mile 3:56.98 Leonel Manzano  United States 2008
5000 m 13:41.38 Mark Anderson  United States 1980
10000 m 28:05.36 Michael Musyoki  United States 1984
110 m hurdles 13.13 Larry Wade  United States 2004
400 m hurdles 48.44 Michael Stigler  United States 27 March 2015 [17]
3000 m steeplechase 8:27.70 Henry Marsh  United States 1977
High jump 2.33 m Mark Boswell  Canada 2000
Pole vault 5.91 m Shawnacy Barber  Canada 2 April 2016 [18]
Long jump 8.23 m Richard Duncan  Canada 1997
Triple jump 17.02 m (+1.3 m/s) Melvin Lister  United States 3 April 1999
Shot put 21.37 m Al Feuerbach  United States 1974
Discus throw 66.01 m Julian Wruck  Australia 30 March 2013 [19]
Hammer throw 75.15 m Libor Charfreitag  Slovakia 2001
Javelin throw 89.10 m Patrik Bodén  Sweden 24 March 1990
Decathlon 8465 pts Trey Hardee  United States 5–6 April 2006
(100 m), (long jump), 14.45 m (shot put), 1.99 m (high jump), (400 m) / (110 m hurdles), 48.24 m (discus), 5.20 m (pole vault), 60.00 m (javelin), (1500 m)
4×100 m relay 37.88 HSI  United States 2001
4×200 m relay 1:19.88 Austin All Stars  United States 1999
4×400 m relay 2:59.86 USA White  United States 2006
4×800 m relay 7:15.99 Texas A&M University
James Bonn
Joey Roberts
Oscar Ramirez
Michael Preble		  United States 29 March 2012 [20][21]
4×1500 m relay 15:08.67 Arkansas  United States 1999
Sprint medley relay 3:12.13 Arkansas  United States 2000
Distance medley relay 9:29.40 UTEP  United States 1979

Women

Event Record Athlete Nationality Date Ref
100 m 10.93 Dawn Sowell  United States 1989
200 m 23.03 (+0.9 m/s) Paris Daniels  United States 29 March 2014 [22]
800 m 2:04.41 Natoya Goule  United States 6 April 2011
1500 m 4:13.91 Francie Larrieu-Smith  United States 1983
3000 m 9:13.90 Teena Colebrook  Great Britain 1991
5000 m 15:29.85 Midde Hamrin  Sweden 1984
10000 m 31:28.92 Francie Larrieu-Smith  United States 1991
100 m hurdles 12.79 Angela Whyte  United States 2004
400 m hurdles 54.60 Raasin McIntosh  United States 2003
3000 m steeplechase 10:10.93 Trina Cox  United States 2006
High jump 1.95 m Erin Aldrich  United States 2000
Amy Acuff 31 March 2012 [20]
Pole vault 4.55 m Sandi Morris  United States 28 March 2015 [23]
April Steiner Bennett [23]
Long jump 6.88 m (+1.9 m/s) Blessing Okagbare  Nigeria 2 April 2010 [24]
6.96 m (nw)[25] Lorraine Ugen  United States 28 March 2015 [26]
Triple jump 14.05 m (+1.5 m/s) Kimberly Williams  United States 9 April 2011 [27]
Shot put 18.58 m Laura Gerraughty  United States 2006
Discus throw 60.71 m Becky Breisch  United States 2006
Hammer throw 72.16 m Amanda Bingson  United States 28 March 2013 [28]
Javelin throw 60.82 m Kara Winger  United States 27 March 2015 [29]
Heptathlon 6217 pts Kelly Blair LaBounty  United States 2001
(100 m hurdles), (high jump), (shot put), (200 m) / (long jump), (javelin), (800 m)
4×100 m relay 42.28 South Florida Elite  United States 2006
4×200 m relay 1:30.01 LSU
Cassandra Tate
Semoy Hackett
Rebecca Alexander
Kimberlyn Duncan		  United States 31 March 2012
4×400 m relay 3:23.75 Texas  United States 2004
4×800 m relay 8:29.77 Texas  United States 1986
4×1500 m relay 18:11.51 Arkansas
Paige Johnston
Jillian Rosen
Miranda Walker
Kristen Gillespie		  United States 8 April 2011
Sprint medley relay 3:42.36 Arkansas University
C. Williams
T. Ellis-Watson
S. McKnight
Dawn Harper		  United States 27 March 2015 [30]
Distance medley relay 11:01.17 Texas Tech  United States 2008

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Holton, Avery (2001-04-05). "Texas Relays: History in the making". The Daily Texan.
  2. ↑ "History of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays". Texassports.com. Archived from the original on Sep 29, 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 McMicken, Glen (2005-03-31). "Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays: A to Z". Texassports.com. Archived from the original on Sep 29, 2007.
  4. ↑ Treon, Ricky (2006-04-07). "Five reasons to watch Texas' premiere track event". The Daily Texan.
  5. ↑ Rentfro, Daryl (2006-04-05). "Texas Relays 2006 Preview". The Daily Texan.
  6. ↑ Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau (2007-03-27). "March Madness Means Millions for Austin". Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
  9. ↑ Austin welcomes Texas Relays visitors, officials say 30 March 2010.
  10. ↑ Boarded-Up Bars During Texas Relays Raise Eyebrows 21 April 2011.
  11. ↑ “Welcome” to the Police State of 6ixth 9 April 2011.
  12. ↑ Austin, TX: Afraid of a lot of black people? 2009. ClutchFans.
  13. ↑ "2005 Entries Information". TexasSports.com.
  14. ↑ "2006 79th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays schedule". Archived from the original on 26 September 2007.
  15. ↑ "200m Dash Results". www.branchsportstech.com. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "800m Results". flotrack.org. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "400m Hurdles Results". flotrack.org. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  18. ↑ Kevin Sully (3 April 2016). "Barber flies high at Texas Relays". IAAF. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  19. ↑ "Discus Throw Results". www.texassports.com. 30 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  20. 1 2 James Dunaway (1 April 2012). "Richards-Ross and Duncan impress at Texas Relays". IAAF. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  21. ↑ "Texas Relays 2012 Day 2 Results" (PDF). www.grfx.cstv.com. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  22. ↑ "200m Dash Results". www.branchsportstech.com. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  23. 1 2 "Women's Pole Vault Section A Univ/Coll (Final) Results". flotrack.org. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  24. ↑ "2010 Texas Relays Day Three Notes". www.texassports.com. 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  25. ↑ probably wind-assisted
  26. ↑ Jon Mulkeen (28 March 2015). "Kiryu clocks wind-assisted 9.87 in 100m at Texas Relays". IAAF. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  27. ↑ "World leads by Phiri and relays squads the highlight in Austin - Texas Relays report". IAAF. 2011-04-10. Retrieved 2011-04-11.
  28. ↑ "Hammer Throw Results". www.texassports.com. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  29. ↑ "Javelin Throw Results". flotrack.org. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  30. ↑ "Women's 1600 Sprint Medley Relay Univ/Coll Invitational (Final) Results". flotrack.org. 27 March 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.

External links

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