Tiger track team has five in NCAA Championships

U OF M NOTEBOOK

For University of Memphis sophomore Luis Hanssler, earning a trip the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships is becoming part of his season schedule.

Hanssler, a sophomore from Germany, is competing in the championships — held in Eugene, Oregon — for the second straight year, but in a different event. Hanssler, who advanced to the championship finals in the long jump as a freshman, will participate in the decathlon.

Hanssler will be joined by four teammates — Pauls Pujats and Austin Crenshaw in the pole vault, Luke Vaughn in the discus and Carolina Carmichael in the women’s pole vault — at the nationals, which run Wednesday through Saturday at the University of Oregon.

For the second straight year, at least five U of M athletes qualified for the championships. Under Tiger coach Kevin Robinson, a former U of M track athlete, the program is making impressive strides.

“Every year we seem to have a little bit more presence on the national scene,” Robinson said. “Five qualifying is good, but the next thing we want to get to is having eight, 10 or 12 qualifying each year. We are trying to change everything about this pro- gram.”

Hanssler may be one of Robinson’s top recent recruits. He qualified for the decathlon finals after earning a No. 16 national ranking with a programrecord 7,471 points at the American Athletic Conference Championships. His point total allowed him to bypass the NCAA East Preliminary last month and gain direct entry into the championships.

Hanssler begins the t wo - d ay de c at h l on Wednesday with the 100 meters, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400 meter. Thursday’s events will be the 110-meter hurdles, discus, javelin, pole vault and 1500 meters.

In the men’s pole vault, Pujats, a junior from Latvia, will attempt to build on his indoor success. At the 2014 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March, Pujats earned f irst-team AllAmerica honors with a bronze medal finish. He is making his debut at the outdoor championships.

Crenshaw, a senior who attended Houston High, advanced to the national finals after clearing 5.32 meters (or 17 feet, 5.5 inches) at the NCAA East Preliminary. Pujats cleared the same height at the event.

Vaughn, a freshman from East Peoria, Illinois, advanced to the nationals with a throw of 58.02 meters (or 190 feet, 4 inches) at the NCAA East Preliminary, while Carmichael, a sophomore from Lake Forest, Illinois, qualified after tying for third at the preliminary by clearing a program-record height of 4.20 meters (or 13 feet, 9.25 inches).

WOMEN’S TENNIS COACH DEPARTS

Women’s tennis coach Lee Taylor Walker, a former U of M men’s tennis player, is leaving the university to become women’s coach at TCU, a member of the Big 12 Conference.

Walker becomes the second spring sports coach in a month to leave for a job in a Power 5 Conference. Men’s golf coach Grant Robbins, also a U of M alum, left to become men’s coach at Kansas State.

Walker took over the U of M job in 2007 after three years as the men’s assistant tennis coach. He led the women to a winning campaign in 2012 after nine straight losing seasons and to the team’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 2013.

DRAFTED TIGERS SIGN CONTRACTS

Tiger baseball coach Daron Schoenrock said Tuesday that pitchers Jacob Moody and Bryce Beeler, along with infielder Ethan Gross, have signed pro contracts after being selected in last week’s major league baseball draft.

Moody, picked in the 17th round, signed with the Cincinnati Reds. Beeler, taken in the 19th round, signed with the New York Mets and Gross, a 26thround selection, signed with the Chicago White Sox.

S c ho en r o c k sa id lefthander Caleb Wallingford, a 35th-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels, is “leaning toward returning” for his senior season.

Schoenrock said the seldom- used Moody’s draft position wasn’t a surprise because “Jacob has a unique tool, an electric fastball.”

“He is a lefthander who got up to 96 and 97 (mph) at times,” Schoenrock said. “It’s a tool people can’t teach. This will be a good move for Jacob.”