The Texas Longhorns are women’s NCAA champions, and legitimate contenders to the entire world
In 2023 the Lady Longhorns of Texas won the Outdoor NCAA championship. They beat Arkansas 83 to 51, which suggests it wasn’t even close. They had event victories in the sprints, jumps, and scored points beyond that, and they did it all while competing on their home track. It’s actually their first championship since 2005 when Olympian Sanya Richards-Ross was still on the team. But this team might be the greatest women’s college track and field team of all time. Their performance at the Outdoor meet is proof of it.
The Lady Longhorns are dominant
Texas didn’t just win the outdoor national meet, they dominated it. They won by more than 30 points which is pretty rare. No women’s track team since 1994 has scored more points in a national meet. That was when LSU did it, and the runner up all those years ago were the Lady Longhorns themselves. In fact, Texas entered the national meet as the number 1 team in their entire region for Division 1, the South Central. That matters because regional rankings are way different than the national ones. To put this perspective, on the men’s side Florida finished sixth in their conference, second in their region, and first at the National meet. The Lady Longhorns however, are so dominant that they were ranked first across the board. They dominated the indoor season as well, and probably should have won it all in that meet. They were actually upset by Arkansas of course, by four points. Yet what is most shocking about this outdoor victory is that the Longhorns entered with the fastest 4x400 relay in the nation. That relay team got disqualified in the preliminary rounds. Had that team did what they are capable of, they likely could have tied the record for the most points by any women’s team, under the modern NCAA scoring system.
Texas could compete against the world
The Lady Longhorns are so good in 2023, they could crown themselves a sovereign nation and enter the World Championships while performing better than most nations ever hope to. Led by Julien Alfred she likely would have gotten at least fourth in the 100 meter dash at the World Championships in 2022 with her 2023 performances. But her 200 meter dash would have likely been at least third. In the 400 meter dash, Rhasidat Adeleke actually could have gotten second in that event for the entire world. Beyond both of them, 2 more of their women could have threatened to make the 200 meter final, in the World Championships!
Needless to say their relays would have been legitimate. The performances Texas put out this season could have gone as high as third at the World meet in the 4x100 and fourth in the 4x400. Remember this is a college team, and they could have been that good in a World Championship event. If you throw in Ackelia Smith finishing between fourth and sixth in both the long jump and triple jump, you should see just how great these women actually are.
The Bottom Line
Track and field is a sport where we often don’t consider the whole team. But it’s about time we give the Lady Longhorns the credit they deserve. They aren’t just this year’s champion. They aren’t even the best team of the decade. Their victory this year, could be reconsidered an underachievement, because they should have tied the record for the most points scored in college track history. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that it might as well be its own country. That may never have been more true than in the 2023 track season. The Lady Longhorns already conquered the NCAA, and it doesn’t appear that they should need any help taking on the best in the world all by themselves.
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