Track and Field opens season at Texas AandM on Saturday

Published by David Wiechmann/Texas SID on January 15th, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas – Indoor track and field season officially starts this weekend for the Texas Longhorns. Head Coach Mario Sategna and his crew will head to College Station for the Texas A&M 11-Team Invitational on Saturday as Texas begins its 2016 campaign with national title hopes.

The Texas men enter 2016 ranked No. 2 in the nation in the USTFCCCA Preseason Rankings. It is the highest ranking for the men's team in school history. On the women's side, the Longhorns are No. 3 in the preseason rankings making Texas one of the top programs in the nation combined. Saturday will be the first opportunity of the year for the Longhorns to display the talent that has some putting Texas on the short list for NCAA title contenders.

"We realize we've got four very good opportunities heading into the Big 12 Championships," Sategna said of the indoor schedule. "This is the first step for all those returners. It's going to be a great meet at a great venue. We're excited to be back at A&M because, not only is it a short bus trip for our team, but also for all the parents in the state of Texas to be able to get there, and for our fans and for our alumni."

Action gets underway in College Station on Saturday at noon from Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. The Longhorns will be up against some strong teams as well in the team scored meet. The Aggies enter 2016 ranked No. 9 on the men's side and No. 21 for the women. Other ranked teams competing in the 11-Team Invitational will be the No. 11 Baylor women and No. 7 TCU men. Abilene Christian, BYU, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Stephen F. Austin, Texas State and UTSA also will be competing.

Sategna knows the preseason rankings are only an early projection from the USTFCCCA and the season will play out however it may. He does, however, feel a difference at practice which has him excited for 2016.

"Rankings are rankings, but at the same time it sure is nice to see both teams ranked as high as they are. I think the great thing we have with this team is they know what the goal is," Sategna said. "They want to win Big 12's and they want to win a national championship. We don't even as a staff, and as the head coach, have to talk about that all the time. You can hear the buzz in the locker room, you can hear them when they're in the training room and when they're out here on the track."