Texas Relays

The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays is 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.

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]

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 alleged issues involving crime, some local businesses close for the Relays weekend.^[7][8] In 2009 Highland Mall closed several hours earlier than normal on account of the Texas Relays.^[9]

Some advocates of the Relays state that there is not a significant increase in crime during the Relays weekend. Some businesses have nonetheless chosen to not operate or to close early.^{[10][11][12][13]}

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.^[14]

Source.^[15] Note: Some men's events are combined for the university and College divisions.

Men's meeting records of the Texas Relays

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref.
100 m	9.90 (+2.0 m/s)	Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku	Ghana	25 March 2022	[16]
200 m	19.81 (+0.8 m/s)	Terrance Laird	United States	27 March 2021	[17]
400 m	44.62	Bryce Deadmon	United States	27 March 2021	[17]
800 m	1:45.31	Oussama El Bouchayby	Morocco	30 March 2023	[18]
1500 m	3:41.15	Paul Larkins	Great Britain	1984
Mile	3:56.98	Leonel Manzano	United States	2008
5000 m	13:38.28	Ernest Cheruiyot	Kenya	28 March 2024	[19]
10,000 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	[20]
3000 m steeplechase	8:27.70	Henry Marsh	United States	1977
High jump	2.33 m	Mark Boswell	Canada	2000
		JuVaughn Harrison	United States	1 April 2023	[18]
Pole vault	5.92 m	Renaud Lavillenie	France	31 March 2018	[21]
		Shawnacy Barber	Canada	31 March 2018	[21]
		Armand Duplantis	Sweden	31 March 2018	[21]
Long jump	8.23 m	Richard Duncan	Canada	1997
Triple jump	17.09 m (+2.0 m/s)	O'Brien Wasome	Jamaica	30 March 2024	[22]
Shot put	21.54 m	Adrian Piperi	United States	26 March 2022	[23]
Discus throw	66.01 m	Julian Wruck	Australia	30 March 2013	[24]
Hammer throw	76.29 m	Denzel Comenentia	Netherlands	29 March 2018	[25]
Javelin throw	89.10 m	Patrik Bodén	Sweden	24 March 1990
Decathlon	8708 pts	Leo Neugebauer	Germany	27–28 March 2024	[26]
	100 m (wind) Long jump (wind) Shot put High jump 400 m 110 m h (wind) Discus Pole vault Javelin 1500 m 10.74 (+0.9 m/s) 7.81 m (+0.5 m/s) 17.26 m 2.05 m 47.99 14.51 (+1.0 m/s) 51.50 m 5.10 m 58.99 m 4:51.05
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	2:59.73	Tiger Olympians: Quincy Downing Michael Cherry Vernon Norwood Tyler Terry	United States	26 March 2022	[27]
4 × 800 m relay	7:15.66	South Plains College: Aron Tanui Trayquan Francis Chevonne Hall Kimar Farquharson	United States	1 April 2023	[28]
4 × 1500 m relay	15:08.67	Arkansas	United States	1999
Sprint medley relay (2-2-4-8)	3:12.13	Arkansas	United States	2000
Distance medley relay	9:29.40	UTEP	United States	1979

Women's meeting records of the Texas Relays

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Ref.
100 m	10.93	Dawn Sowell	United States	1989
200 m	22.08 (+1.2 m/s)	Gabrielle Thomas	United States	30 March 2024	[29]
400 m	50.19	Shamier Little	United States	27 March 2021	[17]
800 m	2:00.25	Shafiqua Maloney	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	28 March 2024	[30]
1500 m	4:13.53	Dana Mecke	United States	31 March 2018	[31]
3000 m	9:13.90	Teena Colebrook	Great Britain	1991
5000 m	15:25.27	Elizabeth Leachman	United States	28 March 2024	[32]
10,000 m	31:28.92	Francie Larrieu-Smith	United States	1991
100 m hurdles	12.36 (+2.0 m/s)	Masai Russell	United States	1 April 2023	[18]
400 m hurdles	54.37	Britton Wilson	United States	25 March 2022	[27]
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	[33]
Pole vault	4.91 m	Jenn Suhr	United States	30 March 2019	[34]
Long jump	7.14 m (+1.0 m/s)	Tara Davis	United States	26 March 2021	[35]
Triple jump	14.48 m (+1.0 m/s)	Tori Franklin	United States	30 March 2018	[36]
Shot put	18.58 m	Laura Gerraughty	United States	2006
Discus throw	67.98 m	Valarie Allman	United States	29 March 2024	[37]
Hammer throw	74.18 m	Brooke Anderson	United States	28 March 2019	[38]
Javelin throw	60.82 m	Kara Winger	United States	27 March 2015	[39]
Heptathlon	6412 pts	Anna Hall	United States	23–24 March 2022	[23]
	100m H (wind) High jump Shot put 200m (wind) Long jump (wind) Javelin 800m 13.41 (+1.6 m/s) 1.77 m 13.45 m 23.81 (−0.1 m/s) 6.23 m (+0.9 m/s) 40.98 m 2:04.61
4 × 100 m relay	42.00	University of Texas: Julien Alfred Ezinne Abba Lanae Thomas Kevona Davis	Saint Lucia  United States  United States  Jamaica	1 April 2023	[40]
4 × 200 m relay	1:27.05 WB	Team International: Dina Asher-Smith Rhasidat Adeleke Lanae-Tava Thomas Julien Alfred	Great Britain  Ireland  Jamaica  Saint Lucia	30 March 2024	[41]
4 × 400 m relay	3:22.94	University of Texas: Rhasidat Adeleke Kennedy Simon Stacey-Ann Williams Davicia Patterson	Ireland  United States  United States  United States	25 March 2022	[27]
4 × 800 m relay	8:20.69	Louisiana State University: Lorena Rangel Batres Callie Hardy Cindy Bourdier Michaela Rose	United States	1 April 2023	[42]
4 × 1500 m relay	18:11.51	Arkansas: Paige Johnston Jillian Rosen Miranda Walker Kristen Gillespie	United States	8 April 2011
Sprint medley relay (2-2-4-8)	3:36.10	University of Texas: Julien Alfred Rhasidat Adeleke Kennedy Simon Valery Tobias	Saint Lucia  Ireland  United States  United States	31 March 2023	[43]
Distance medley relay	10:59.86	Louisiana State University: Cindy Bourdier Garriel White Michaela Rose Lorena Rangel Batres	United States	31 March 2023	[44]

General

• Texas Relays records 30 March 2019 updated

Specific

• Texas Relays web site