AUSTIN, Texas – UTEP’s Arianne Morais and Marissa Simpson concluded the season with second team All-America honors at the 2023 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field National Championships hosted by Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Thursday evening.
Morais’s best mark was a 51.43-meter (168-8) toss on her first attempt as she placed 14th overall. Morais improved from last year’s showing in Eugene, Ore., as the junior transfer from Florida placed 22nd (50.26m, 164-11). Morais is the first female UTEP javelin thrower since 2010 (Anna Wessman) to be honored as an All-American.
Roosa Yloenen’s best throw was 47.90 meters (151-8) on her third and final attempt of her collegiate career in the javelin final. The senior competed in Eugene in 2021, finishing 18th (50.28m, 164-11). Nebraska’s Rhema Otabor won the women’s national championships with a 59.49-meter (195-2) laser on her second throw.
Marissa Simpson came up short, placing fifth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles semifinals in heat 1, clocking in a 13.21 (+0.5) in lane three.
Simpson placed 16th overall. The sophomore started solid off the block, but Arkansas’s Ackera Nugent flew by the competition with a 12.55, while Coastal Carolina’s Alexis Glasco (12.90) placed second to gain the automatic bid for Saturday’s final.
Elsewhere at the NCAA Championships on Thursday, Coronado graduate and Rice Owls decathlete Grant Levesque finished ninth overall in the 2023 decathlon competition with 7,739 points. The sophomore had a fantastic day, winning the pole vault event with a vault of over 17 feet. He also won his heat of the 110m hurdles.
On Friday in Austin, Jakub Belik will look to leap high in the men’s high jump final on Friday starting at 6:30 p.m. MT/7:30 CT. Victor Kibiego will compete for a national championship in the 3000m steeplechase final on Friday at 7:24 p.m. MT/ 8:24 CT.
Meanwhile, Franklin graduate Omajuwa Etiwe is slated to run the 4×400 meter relay as part of the Texas A&M squad.
