{"id":229807,"date":"2026-04-01T06:19:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/229807\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:19:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:19:06","slug":"smallwood-daniel-and-pinones-headline-texas-men-at-texas-relays-the-daily-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/229807\/","title":{"rendered":"Smallwood, Daniel and Pinones headline Texas men at Texas Relays \u2013 The Daily Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"

A tradition more than 100 years old returns to the University of Texas on Wednesday when the 98th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays begin. The meet will bring more than 5,000 athletes to Austin, spanning high school, collegiate and professional competition.<\/a><\/p>\n

Founded in 1925, the Texas Relays have become one of the nation\u2019s premier outdoor meets, and this year\u2019s edition gives Texas men\u2019s track and field another chance to open the outdoor season on a positive note on a major stage in Austin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After returning from the NCAA Indoor National Championships two weeks ago, senior Kendrick Smallwood, graduate Kelsey Daniel and junior Michael Pi\u00f1ones enter the weekend as three of Texas\u2019 top names to watch.<\/p>\n

Smallwood is set to compete in the 110-meter hurdles and is also listed on Texas\u2019 4\u00d7100-meter<\/a> relay. After breaking the program record in the 60-meter hurdles during the indoor season and finishing on the podium at the SEC Indoor Championships, Smallwood gives Texas one of its best chances to stand out in a marquee event. For Smallwood, those results start long before race day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that you do in a race that\u2019s elite is done in practice,\u201d Smallwood said.<\/p>\n

Daniel will compete in both the long jump and triple jump after an indoor season that included two podium finishes at the Southeastern Conference Championships. His versatility gives Texas one of its strongest field-event threats heading into the weekend.<\/p>\n

Pi\u00f1ones adds another storyline in the field events. He is entered in the shot put alongside teammates sophomore Shaiquan Dunn and freshman Benjamin Shue, and his NCAA indoor championship experience makes him another proven option for the Longhorns.<\/p>\n

With Daniel taking on the jumps and Pi\u00f1ones in the throws, Texas has a chance to make an impact outside of its sprint events. The Longhorns\u2019 weekend will not hinge on just these three athletes, with several other races offering chances for Texas to stand out.<\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 4\u00d7400-meter relay will be one of the top races to watch, with the Longhorns set to face Baylor, Houston, Ohio State, TCU and Texas Tech. Texas also brings depth into the short sprints, with multiple entries in the 100-meter and 200-meter and a strong 4\u00d7100 relay lineup that includes Smallwood, junior Jayden Jones, sophomore Troy Mason and senior John Rutledge. That level of competition is part of what Smallwood embraces most.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI love a challenge,\u201d Smallwood said. \u201cI love somebody that\u2019s going to push me to do great things.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a meet built on tradition, Texas men enter this year\u2019s Texas Relays with proven national experience and a home-track opportunity to build momentum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If Smallwood, Daniel and Pi\u00f1ones can set the tone, the Longhorns could come out of this weekend with an early outdoor season statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A tradition more than 100 years old returns to the University of Texas on Wednesday when the 98th…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":{"0":"post-229807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}