Distance runners represented Texas men’s track and field at the Razorback Invitational on Friday and Saturday. While not all members of the distance team double in track & field indoor season underway”>cross country and track and field, many do. Most of them either made their indoor season debut or ran a certain distance for the first time in 2025.
The Longhorns had 14 members of the roster there in Fayetteville, with 10 of them also running cross country in the fall for distance coach Greg Metcalf.
One of Metcalf’s stars is senior and 2024 cross-country All-SEC first-teamer Isaac Alonzo. In his 2025 debut, Alonzo finished eighth in the 3,000-meter race. Junior Nathanael Berhane placed 10th, also in his indoor season opener, senior Trey Rios placed 17th and junior Nigusom Knight, 18th, all put up personal bests in the event.
Junior Hudson Heikkinen ran the 3,000 meter for the second time this season in Fayetteville, finishing 22nd. Sophomore Jack Boyd competed at that distance for the first time collegiately and sophomore Hudson Bennett made his college track debut in the race. They came in 28th and 31st, respectively.
The event’s winner Cruz Gomez was a senior during Metcalf’s first year at Texas before transferring to Ole Miss. Now a professional runner, Gomez competed in preparation for the U.S. Indoor Championships.
“I think he walked away from his college experience wanting more. … (In) my conversation (with him), he’s just incredibly confident,” Metcalf said. “He was fully expecting that he was gonna go win. And so he runs a substantial (personal record) … he looked like a million bucks and there is more to come.”
Gomez was an All-American distance medley relay runner on Texas men’s 2022 indoor championship-winning team. He overlapped with Alonzo on the Forty Acres for two years.
“There is still a friendly rivalry there … there’s a little trash talk for sure,” Metcalf said. “Isaac (Alonzo) wants to beat Cruz and Cruz wants to win races, and it’s only healthy. That is kind of the cool thing about the sport, track and field — (anyone good) can go to the Razorback Invitational, and it is a combination of post-collegiates, professional athletes, college athletes.”
For the first time this season, graduate student Drew Weber ran the 800-meter and mile, placing 29th and 50th, respectively. Weber was first amongst Texas runners in the mile; the only Longhorn to finish above him in the 800-meter was senior Dan Howells, who last ran the distance at the 2024 Big 12 Championships.
Tuesday’s second edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rating index saw the Longhorns drop seven spots to No. 14. SEC foes No. 1 Arkansas, No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 10 Ole Miss are ranked above Texas. More shakeups can be expected in the weeks to come.
Texas is three meets into a seven-week stretch of consecutive competitions. A large portion of the men’s roster will return to New Mexico this weekend in the Longhorns’ second visit to the Albuquerque Convention Center in the past three weeks.
