'Texas is always going to be home for me': Ex-Longhorns return to compete at Texas Relays

For the first time in years, Tripp Piperi wasn’t just competing at the Texas Relays on Saturday. He also was working.

Piperi won the men's shot put event with a heave of 67 feet, 11 inches. That in itself wasn't breaking news; Piperi had the top marks at the Relays in both 2018 and 2022. He owns the meet record in the shot put.

But Piperi wasn’t representing the Texas Longhorns this time around. Piperi, a two-time NCAA outdoors champion in the shot put, was competing as an unattached athlete. Instead of burnt orange, the pro wore red.

"I love being here," Piperi said. "Everybody who follows me knows I come here every year. Having now this be the first time that I'm not actually competing in burnt orange, it's going to be a little different, but I'm still going to do my thing."

Piperi was among the former Longhorns who returned to the Texas Relays this year. Saturday was a showcase for high school, collegiate and professional athletes.

Turning the Texas Relays into reunion weekend

A graduate transfer at UT last year, Tyra Gittens made her professional debut in the women's long jump. In an invitational 400-meter relay, Teahna Daniels ran the third leg for the USA Stars team, which finished second in that race and edged a USA Red team that featured fellow Texas ex Morolake Akinosun. Former NCAA champions Ashtin Zamzow-Mahler and Tara Davis-Woodhall were scheduled to compete this weekend but didn't.

The Texas Relays don't award cash prizes to professional participants. The event, though, does offer these pros a chance to compete against other elite athletes. The former Longhorns also could use the weekend as a homecoming.

“I love Texas. Texas is always going to be home for me," said Daniels, who trains in Orlando. "I'm excited to see the crowd and the stadium is full. It gave me a lot of energy for today."

Since she last ran for Texas, Daniels won an Olympic silver medal with the U.S. 400-meter relay team and has started to teach yoga. Gittens, who sang "Lift Every Voice And Sing" ahead of a UT basketball game in February, signed with PUMA. And now that the shot put is his full-time gig, Piperi spends a lot of his time training alongside his brother, Patrick, who's a senior at Texas.

"I thought (I'd have) so much free time. I don't," Piperi said. "I'm doing so much with my off time to focus on getting better, getting healthier, staying healthy, stuff like that. It is more stressful obviously, but it's a lot more of a job that people would think it is."

Crouser: 'all in' for the 2024 Paris Olympics

Not all of the Texas exes at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Saturday were breaking a sweat. Ryan Crouser, for example, watched the events from the track. He was tabbed as an honorary referee for the weekend and was acknowledged during the opening ceremonies.

While at Texas from 2012-16, Crouser was an 11-time All-American. He has since won two Olympic golds in the shot put. He owns the world's indoor and outdoors records in that event.

"Just awesome to come back; the energy and the atmosphere at Texas Relays is second to none," said Crouser, who last attended a Relays in 2017. "Been an honor to be a part of that. To be blessed to be named the honorary referee is something that I'm really, really proud of and really, really thankful for."

Crouser will open his outdoor season at this month's Drake Relays, and he was pleased with how he performed indoors this winter. Crouser said he's "all-in" for the Paris Olympics in 2024 and would like to hold off retirement until after the Olympics are held in Los Angeles in 2028. "I've got to find a few more years in these knees," he joked.

"I'm still going full-steam. I'm throwing right now better than I ever have," Crouser said. "At 30 years old, I just feel blessed to be able to keep doing it."

Texas' current runners fared well, too

While UT's past had its place Saturday, so did the present. Kiana Lowery (women's discus), Marilyn Nwora (shot put) and the Longhorns men's 800-meter relay team all earned second-place finishes on the final day of the Texas Relays.

Then there were the champions.

The Texas women set collegiate records with their 400- and 800-meter relay teams and they closed out the afternoon with a win in the 1,600-meter relay. One day after she won a Relays title in the triple jump, sophomore Ackelia Smith recorded the best leap in the long jump. Texas runners Isaac Alonzo and Haftu Knight also finished first and second in the invitational mile.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Relays track competition features handful of former Longhorns