UT regents reward Herman with extension
AUSTIN — The University of Texas System board of regents on Thursday approved a two-year contract extension for football coach Tom Herman.
Last season, the Longhorns won 10 games for the first time in a decade. Now, the school is rewarding Herman with a guaranteed contract extension worth an extra $13 million.
The extension runs through the 2023 season, and Herman will earn $6.5 million in 2022 and $6.75 million in 2023.
Herman, 43, took over at Texas in late 2016 after three consecutive losing seasons under Charlie Strong. After a 7-6 finish in 2017, UT went 10-4 in 2018 and played in the Big 12 title game. A victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl gave the program 10 wins for the first time since the 2009 season when the Longhorns played for the national championship.
UH’s Jefferson earns NCAA bid
The University of Houston track and field teams jumped to a fast start during the opening day of the NCAA West Regional at Sacramento, Calif.
Trumaine Jefferson became the first UH athlete to punch his ticket to the NCAA outdoor championships with a season-best jump of 25 feet, 6¾ inches to finish third in the men’s long jump.
The Cougars dominated the men’s 100-meter field with six qualifiers among the 24 spots. Mario Burke ran the third-fastest time in prelims at 10.25. He will be joined in the quarterfinals by Nicholas Alexander, Edward Sumler IV, Brandon Taylor and Travis Collins. Sam Houston State’s Chris Jefferson also advanced.
In the 400 hurdles, Amere Lattin, the region’s No. 1 seed, won his heat with a time of 50.09 to advance and will be joined by teammate Quivell Jordan (51.11).
Houston added two more qualifiers in the 400 with Kahmari Montgomery (45.56) and Obi Igbokwe (46.08) winning their respective heats.
On the women’s side, Ashley Seymour posted a time of 11.55 seconds to finish second in her heat and advance to the quarterfinals. Rice’s Hannah Jackson grabbed the final spot in the field.
UH’s Samiya Samuels finished fourth in the women’s long jump to qualify for nationals, which will be held June 3-5 at the University of Texas in Austin.
Bama tops Texas in NCAA softball
Merris Schroder’s tworun homer in the third inning put eighth-seeded Alabama ahead to stay in a 3-0 victory over No. 9 Texas in the opening game of an NCAA softball super regional at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Longhorns (45-16) now must beat the Crimson Tide (56-7) twice to reach the Women’s College World Series.
Texas promoted interim men’s tennis coach Bruce Berque to permanent status after the Longhorns won the NCAA team championship.
Berque took over the program in February when former coach Michael Center was arrested in the nationwide college admissions bribery scandal. Center later pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges and faces between 15 and 21 months in prison.
Berque, a former head coach at Michigan, was a UT assistant for four seasons.