Red Raiders Set for Big 12 Indoor Championships
June 21, 1999 | Indoor Track
LUBBOCK, Texas -- This weekend marks the second annual Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships in Ames, Iowa. Hosted by Iowa State, the meet will run Friday and Saturday in the Lied Recreation-Athletic Center. The facility is one of the fastest indoor tracks in the US, measuring nearly 300 meters. Last year's inaugural meet produced 138 NCAA qualifying or provisional entry marks.
On Friday, action will run from 9 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. with five field event finals and four running event finals being contested throughout the day. The first of 28 finals begins at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Texas Tech will look to score as a team, as well as put together strong individual performances. All Big 12 schools will be competing, including Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Colorado, Iowa State, Nebraska and Texas Tech. Nebraska claimed both the mens and womens the inaugural titles, as Husker head coach Gary Pepin earned conference Indoor Coach of the Year honors.
For Texas Tech at the 1997 meet, the men finished tied for ninth while the women ended in 10th place. Sprinter Josephus Howard returned with a first place finish for the team in the 200 meters, while teammate Desmond Johnson claimed second in the 400. The duo will look to repeat performances at this years championships.
Red Raider rewind
The Texas Tech mens and womens track and field teams wrapped up competition Saturday at the Houston Indoor Invitational in the Yeoman Fieldhouse. Abilene Christian swept the team competition at the Univ. of Houston meet, with the Texas Tech men earning fifth and the women claiming fourth.
Senior Jennifer Wright took home the teams only top finish at the meet. Wright recorded a time of 25.11 seconds in the 200 meters for first place. Lori Knowles also put forth a strong performance at the meet, placing second in the mile run with a time of 5:12.12. Additionally, junior Kaneshia Polk set a new season best mark in the triple jump with a leap of 38 feet, 10.25 inches, and Sipa Finau threw a season best in the weight throw with a toss of 50-4.75.
For the men, freshman Shameron Turner turned in a second place performance in the 200 meters, clocking a time of 21.97. Sophomore Josephus Howard finished third in the 60 meters, in his first running of the event this season, and junior Rohan McDonald earned third in the 400 meters. Senior Andy Holt also pushed out a top mark in the shot put, placing second at the meet.
Looking for that last chance
The Big 12 meet will not be the final meet for the Tech squad to qualify for the NCAA championships in March. The teams will attend a last chance meet, giving the individuals one more opportunity to achieve a provisional or automatic qualification mark. Those who earn a provisional mark move on to nationals based on the number of spots available to compete. This year, the Tech squad will head to either the LSU Last Ditch effort on March 6 or travel to Arkansas for their last chance event.