The Big 12 Conference has released the yearly awards for the 2024 Outdoor Track & Field season. Four programs were represented with Texas earning three selections.
Houston’s Shaun Maswanganyi earned Men’s Performer of the Year while Oklahoma State’s Brian Musau was selected Men’s Outstanding Freshman. On the women’s side, Baylor’s Alexis Brown garnered Women’s Performer of the Year and Texas’ Akala Garrett claimed Women’s Outstanding Freshman. UT head coach Edrick Floréal secured both Coach of the Year awards. Selections were voted on by the Big 12 head coaches who were prohibited from voting for their own student-athletes.
Maswanganyi tallied 22.5 points at the Big 12 OTF Championship to win the Men’s High Point Scorer. The senior earned three gold medals in the men’s 4x100 relay, 100 and 200 meters. He helped the relay team record its season-best time of 38.44 seconds, the nation’s second-fastest time during the 2024 season. The Johannesburg, South Africa native then recorded a 10.11 in the 100 meters and an Olympic qualifying standard time of 20.10 in the 200 meters.
Musau set this season’s best mark of 13:13.29 in the 5,000-meter during the Bryan Clay Invitational. When he recorded the time in April, it was the fastest in the world. At the Big 12 Championship, the freshman from Machakos, Kenya earned the Cowboys five points as he crossed the finish line after 3:41.45 in the men’s 1,500-meter. Musau is the third male from OSU to receive the Outstanding Freshman honor and the first since 2016.
Brown helped contribute 20 points to the Baylor women’s team at the Big 12 Championship while setting program records. Her first victory came in the women’s long jump, which went into the early morning of Saturday due to weather delays on Friday. The senior leaped a personal-best distance of 6.83 meters (22-05) to win the program’s first women’s Big 12 long jump title. No other Bear has recorded a jump over 22 feet. She finished her Championship performance as a member of BU’s 4x100 relay team that claimed first place on its home turf with a program record time of 43.16 seconds. Brown is the second Baylor woman to earn Women’s Performer of the Year.
Garrett posted a personal record time of 54.73 in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the Big 12 Championship. The time earned her the victory while it set the Championship record, became the No. 3 best mark this season and was an Olympic qualifying standard time. Moving to No. 2 on UT’s all-time performer list, she became the youngest athlete to record a top-10 world record in the event with the sixth-fastest mark. The freshman also placed third in the women’s 100-meter hurdles at the Championship. Garrett is the seventh Longhorn and the first since 2018 to collect the Women’s Outstanding Freshman honor.
Floréal earned the Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year honors after leading the Longhorns to both titles at the Big 12 Championship. The men’s team tallied 134 points and garnered two gold medals while the women’s team scored 150 points and six individual titles. Since being named the head coach of the UT program in June 2018, the women’s team has earned five consecutive outdoor titles while the men’s team has captured three in five seasons. It is Coach Floréal’s fourth Women’s and third Men’s Coach of the Year accolades.
2024 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Yearly Awards
Men’s Performer of the Year: Shaun Maswanganyi, Houston
Men’s Outstanding Freshman: Brian Musau, Oklahoma State
Men’s Coach of the Year: Edrick Floréal, Texas
Woman’s Performer of the Year: Alexis Brown, Baylor
Women’s Outstanding Freshman: Akala Garrett, Texas
Women’s Coach of the Year: Edrick Floréal, Texas