Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Outdoor Championships
Red Raiders Earn Two Bronze Medals on Second Day
May 12, 2007 | Track and Field
May 12, 2007
LINCOLN, Neb. - On the second day of the Big 12 Championships, the Texas Tech Red Raiders finished with nine in scoring position, including two bronze medalists. Redshirt freshman Ozie Okolie and junior Julianne Kennedy each earned third-place finishes in their respective events. In Saturday's running prelims, five Tech men and five women qualified for Sunday's finals, including two-time Big 12 champions Marlon Odom and Bryan Scott.
Taking the bronze in the women's heptathlon was junior Red Raider Kennedy. The Sherman, Texas, product was in second place after four events on Friday and completed the event with 5306 points, resetting her school record. Kennedy's previous top mark was 5234 from this year's Texas Relays in early April.
During Saturday's three heptathlon events, Kennedy set a new personal best in the 800M after clocking a run of 2:29.63. On Friday she finished with a PR in the shot put after throwing for 41'-8". Completing Kennedy's school record run through the event were marks of 18'-8" in the long jump and 115'-9" in the javelin.
Also finishing in bronze position was redshirt freshman Okolie in the women's hammer throw, also resetting her school record. The Houston, Texas, native threw for 193'-9", breaking her previous best of 182'-9" from the Sooner Invitational two weeks ago. Okolie's mark moves her up to the 26th best throw in the nation, fifth in the Midwest Region, after being 58th/10th after the meet in Norman, Okla.
In the women's pole vault, Tech finished in the fourth, fifth and eighth position to notch 10 points for the Red Raider women. Amanda Alley had the top finish of fourth after tying her personal best with a clearance of 13'-1.5". Placing fifth after also tying a personal best height of 13'-1.5" was senior Lindsey Walesheck. Junior Kelley Schulz finished in the eighth-place position after having a top height of 12'-9.5".
The Red Raider men's long jumpers finished with three in scoring position, good for six points. Leading all Tech jumpers was junior Bobby Evers with a sixth-place finish after jumping 25'-0.5". The mark is the Brownwood, Texas, native's top distance this season and second-best career mark. Freshmen Lyle Leong and Anthony Flemons finished seventh and eighth, respectively, with personal bests. Leong, from Abilene, Texas, jumped 24'-11", while Flemons of Childress, Texas, had a leap of 24'-10.5".
Senior Lacy Wilson took fifth place in the women's high jump after clearing a height of 5'-11.25". The mark sits as Wilson's second-best height this season and earned the Red Raider women four additional points for the team standings. Texas' Destinee Hooker took the title in the event after setting a meet record of 6'-4", eventually missing at the NCAA-record height.
In running prelims on Saturday, Tech's three-time national champion Sally Kipyego ran the top mark in the women's 1500M. Running in the second heat, sophomore Kipyego finished in a time of 4:26.51, an NCAA regional mark. As the Kenya native's first run in the event, she is now qualified for post-season action in three events: the 1500M, 5000M and 10000M.
In hurdle events, Tech had three men qualify for the finals in the 110M hurdles while one female finished in the top eight in the women's 100M hurdles. Senior Odom ran the fastest prelim time for the men, clocking a 13.63. Omo Osaghae and Jansen Hyde also qualified with personal best marks, running 14.04 and 14.11 respectively. Osaghae's previous best was a run of 14.18 at the TCU Invite, while Hyde ran a time of 14.24 at the Texas Relays and the Big 12 Championships last year. On the women's side, Tori Smith qualified for Sunday's 2:45 p.m. final after clocking a time of 13.86, tying her personal best.
For the 400M hurdles, freshman Sandra Iwunze finished sixth overall in the prelims running in the second heat. Iwunze, the current school record holder in the event, ran a time of 59.56. The men finished with one Red Raider to qualify for the finals, as Scott ran the top mark in Saturday's heats. Scott, a two-time Big 12 champion in the 400M hurdles, finished in 50.90, three-tenths ahead of second place Hamza Deyaf of Texas.
Junior Louise Cox had her second best mark in the women's 400M to qualify for Sunday's final of the event. The Converse, Texas, native had a regional-qualifying time of 54.37 to finish with the fourth-fastest prelim time. She had a top time of 54.27 and her first regional mark at this year's Texas Tech Open.
Senior Zach Glavash notched the second best time in the preliminary heats of the men's 800M. The Chillicothe, Ill., native finished with a run of 1:49:45, his fastest time this season and second top career time. He will run in the finals tentatively scheduled for 3:55 p.m. Sunday. On the women's side, Asia Diaz, who finished fifth at the indoor meet in the event, qualified with a time of 2:08.69. The run marks Diaz's personal best, beating her mark of 2:11.47 from the TCU Invitational earlier this year.
Freshman Ryan Adkins missed qualifying for the finals in the men's 100M sprint, but finishing in PR time. The product of Sweetwater, Texas, clocked a run of 10.69, shaving .16 from his previous best of 10.85, which he ran at the Drake Relays.
In team standings, the Red Raider women sit in second place after seven events have been scored. Tech has 41 points to first-place Nebraska who has tallied 74. On the men's side, five events have been scored while Kansas sits in first with 37 points. Texas trails with 28 with host Nebraska with 27 and Missouri having 25. Texas Tech men are currently tied for sixth with 16 team points.
The Big 12 Championships will wrap up on Sunday with the finals of all running events and the contesting of the remaining field events (javelin, shot put, triple jump, men's pole vault, men's high jump). Red Raiders will begin action with the men's triple jump and pole vault at noon, while running events will begin at 1:30 p.m. with the women's 4x100M relay. For complete action, please visit www.texastech.com.
Players Mentioned
