Tech Track Set for NCAA West Preliminary Round

Tech Track Set for NCAA West Preliminary Round

May 26, 2010 | Track and Field

May 26, 2010

LUBBOCK, Texas -

The No. 7 Red Raiders and No. 18 Lady Raider's track squads take its talent to Austin, Texas, and Mike A. Myers Stadium for the 2010 NCAA West Preliminary starting on Thursday, May 27, 2010, as it looks to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

The NCAA West Preliminary is one of two sites that teams across the nation will be competing with the NCAA East Preliminary will be held in Greensboro, N.C. with North Carolina A&T State hosting.

The goal for Tech is to finish in the top 12 of the NCAA West Preliminary to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., being held from June 9-12. Tech has the opportunity to send quite a few student-athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Sophomore Terra Evans is ranked in the 10 in the NCAA West Preliminary in both the 100M and 200M with times of 11.22 and 23.18, respectively. Her 100M time has her No. 4 and her 200M time is No. 6 in the West.

Twin sisters Caroline Karunde and Winrose Karunde are both looking towards advancing the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5000M and 3000M steeplechase, respectively. C. Karunde has a season-best time of 15:58.43 and is eighth in the region with W. Karunde has a 10:11.45 and is also eighth in their respective events.

Freshman Shade Weygandt is another young talent that has the chance to advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She won the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in the women's pole vault with a school record and personal best of 14'-2.75" (4.34M). Weygandt is fourth in the West and No. 5 in the NCAA.

The Red Raiders with a strong possibility of advancing start with freshman Julian Wruck. The Australian native has led the nation with a throw of 200'-2" (61.02M) for a majority of the season. He placed second at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships but he is still ranked No. 1 in the region and nation.

Hurdlers and jumpers are the next possibilities. Big 12 400M hurdle Champion Bryce Brown and Big 12 runner-up Jamele Mason are both ranked No. 3 and No. 6 in the region with times of 49.64 and 50.22 respectively.

The jumpers that are looking to the next round are Bryce Lamb and Darrell Roddick. Lamb is in the top 10 in both the long jump and triple jump in the region while Roddick No. 8 in the triple jump and No. 6 in the high jump.

Junior Gilbert Limo who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships last season in the 3000M steeplechase will try and make it two straight years in a row as he is currently No. 7 in the region.

The 2010 NCAA West Preliminary starts on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 1 p.m. with the women's pole vault. Live results can be followed at www.texassports.com or fan can follow via Twitter @techathletics.

USTFCCCA Rankings
The Red Raiders dropped to No. 7 in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings compiled by Tom Lewis, while the Lady Raiders have moved up to No. 18 from No. 21 a week ago.

National Descending Order List
Tech has eight student-athletes ranked in the top 10 of the nation on the NCAA descending order list. 6. Terra Evans, 100M, 11.22w
10. Caroline Karunde, 1500M, 4:17.67
5. Bryce Brown, 400M H, 49.75
7. Gilbert Limo, 3K SC, 8:42.99
7. Shade Weygandt, Pole Vault, 4.30/14'-1.25"
1. Bryce Lamb, Long Jump, 8.05/26'-5"
4. Darrell Roddick, Triple Jump, 16.35/53'-7.75"
9. Bryce Lamb, Triple Jump, 16.10/52'-10"
1. Julian Wruck, Men's Discus, 61.02/200'-2"

Big 12 Champions
Tech won two individual titles at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships held in Columbia, Mo. Bryce Brown and Shade Weygandt won titles in the 400M hurdles and women's pole vault, respectively. Brown's 400M hurdle victory marks the fourth time a Red Raider has won the event and first since 2007. Weygandt is the first Lady Raider to win the pole vault title when she set a school record of 14'-2.75" (4.34).

Consistently Raising the Bar
Freshman Shade Weygandt has been one of the most consistent student-athletes for Tech this season. Not only did she win the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor pole vault titles but has set a new school record almost weekly. She has a new personal-best jump of 14'-2.75" (4.34) and is currently ranked fifth in the NCAA.

Co-Big 12 Athlete of the Week ... Again
Freshman Bryce Lamb was named Co-Big 12 Athletes of the Week after jumping 8.05M (26'-5") in the long jump for the NCAA lead in the event and 16.10 (53'-7.75") in the triple jump. He is ranked ninth in the NCAA in the triple jump and the only freshman in the nation to be ranked in the top 10 in both the long jump and triple jump.

Co-Big 12 Athlete of the Week
Junior Gilbert Limo was named Co-Big 12 Athlete of the Week after running an 8:42.99 in the 3000M steeplechase at the Brutus Hamilton Invitational. It is the third-fastest time run in the NCAA this season and second in the Big 12. It is the first honor for Limo in his career and second for a Red Raider this season.

Two School Records Broke
Senior Tori Smith and Sophomore Terra Evans set new school records at the Sooner Invitational. Smith broke her own record in the 100M hurdles with a 13.33. Evans broke a 2002 record set by Tiffany Green with an 11.28 in the 100M.

Roddick Improves
Senior Darrell Roddick was already fifth on the NCAA triple jump descending order list going into the Mt. SAC Relays but decided to move himself up the list. He jumped a personal best and moved to fourth on the NCAA list with a mark of 16.35M (53'-7.75")

Leading the Nation
Freshman Julian Wruck after throwing 61.02M (200'-2") at the first Texas Tech home meet was leading the nation. Just four weeks later Wruck is still leading the NCAA and the Big 12 as well.

Weekly Record Setter
At the pace freshman Shade Weygandt has been going setting new school records is going to be old habit in a few weeks. During the indoor season she set the school record three different times. So far this outdoor season the freshman has set the school record twice and attempted an American Junior record of 4.40 (14'-5.25"). She currently holds the outdoor record and a personal best of 4.30M (14'-1.25").

Jumping Up The List
Senior Darrell Roddick first put his name on NCAA descending order list for the high jump as he cleared 2.19M (7'-2.25") where he sits 11th now. One week later he makes his mark on the triple jump list. Roddick's jump of 16.11M (52'-10.25") is fifth on the NCAA list and the fifth-best in Tech history.

Texas Relay Titles
Tech brought home two title from the Texas Relays when at first reported there was only one. The women's distance medley relay won its third Texas Relays title in the last four years. The other title came from Darrell Roddick in the high jump. The senior cleared the third-highest bar in school history at 2.19M (7'-2.25") to win the collegiate Texas Relays title.

Big 12 Athlete of the Week
Freshman Julian Wruck was named the Big 12 Male Athlete of the week after his performance at the Texas Tech Open. The Australian native won the discus at the Tech Open with a throw of 61.02M (200'-02"). It is a personal best for Wruck and the best throw in the NCAA this season. He improved his personal best by almost 10 feet and it's his second-straight meet title.

For Starters
Shade Weygandt wasted no time rewriting the indoor record books in the pole vault and it didn't take her long during the outdoor season to do the same. In her first meet of the outdoor season the freshman in her second bar of the season cleared 4.11M (13'-5.75"). She broke the outdoor record set by Kelly Schulz set in 2005.

Indoor All-Americans
Tech set a record for All-Americans at the NCAA Indoor Championships with 15. Three relays and three individuals earned the honors. On the women's side Caroline Karunde earned the honor in the mile as well as the women's 4x400M relay (Candace Jackson, Trudeann Clarke, Erica Alexander, Taylor Evans) and women's distance medley relay (Purity Biwott, Clarke, Gladys Kipsang, Caroline Karunde). On the men's side was the Bryce Lamb in the long jump and Omo Osaghae in the 60M hurdles as well as the 4x400M (Bryce Brown, Jamaal Butler, Zach Plinario, Latoy Williams).

Big 12 Postseason Awards
Freshman Bryce Lamb and Shade Weygandt were honored by the Big 12 with postseason honors. Lamb was named the Big 12 Indoor Performer of the Year and Outstanding Freshman while Weygandt was named the women's Big 12 Outstanding Freshman.

Record-Breaking Performances
Two freshmen won Big 12 titles with clutch record breaking performances. Shade Weygandt had to set a new personal best and Big 12 meet record of 4.33M (14'-2.50") and had to beat the Big 12 Indoor defending champion to win her first title. Bryce Lamb won the men's triple jump on his final jump with a mark of 16.47M (54'-00.50"). His mark is a school record and Big 12 meet record. Lamb's long jump title was secured when he ran down the runway on his final attempt, but he let people know who won after the jump. His last jump sent him to No. 2 on the NCAA list and No. 7 in the world with a jump of 8.14M (26'-8.50").

High-Point Performer
Freshman Bryce Lamb won the Big 12 High Point Performer of the Big 12 Indoor Championships with his wins in the long jump and triple jump. He is the first Red Raider to win the award on the men's side and first since Sally Kipyego in 2008.

Seven Titles for Tech
The seven Big 12 titles that Tech won at the Big 12 Indoor Championships is the most at an indoor conference meet since last season when the squad won six. The titles came from Purity Biwott (800M), Caroline Karunde (mile), Bryce Lamb (triple jump and long jump), Shade Weygandt (pole vault), Latoy Williams (600M) and the women's distance medley relay of C. Karunde, Biwott, Gladys Kipsang and Taylor Evans.

New School Records
Tech had two new records set this weekend. The women's distance medley relay of Purity Biwott, Trudeann Clarke, Gladys Kipsang and Caroline Karunde broke a year-old record by running an 11:10.28 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational. The other school record was set by Latoy Williams in the 600Y at the Texas Tech Open. Williams ran a 1:08.53 to place second. Ironically he finished second to the previous record holder Jonathan Johnson.

Family Connections
Texas Tech has some unique family connections in the track and field family. The Lady Raiders have two sets of twins on the team with Caroline and Winrose Karunde and Terra and Taylor Evans. The Karunde are both transfers to the program with Caroline from Wayland Baptist and Winrose from ACU. Terra has been here from the start of her collegiate career while her sister Taylor transferred from LSU this past summer.

Hurdle All-Americans
The Red Raiders have had an All-American hurdler every year since 2005. The streak began with Marlon Odom in 2005 in the 110M hurdles. Odom earned All-America honors in the 110M hurdles in 2006 and 2007 while also earning the honor in the 60M hurdles in 2007. Other names such as Bryan Scott, All-American in the 400M hurdles in 2006 and 2007, and Shawon Harris, All-American in 2006 in the 60M hurdles and 600M hurdles, have kept the streak alive. Harris was also named an All-American in the 110M hurdles and 60M hurdles in 2008. Omo Osaghae continued the streak for Tech in the 110M hurdles in 2008 and then the 60M hurdles in 2009. Osaghae recently was named All-American in the 60M hurdles making it five years in a row that Tech has had an All-American hurdler.

13 NCAA Individual Champions
Tech has compiled 13 NCAA Individual Champions in its program history. The most recent was from D'Andra Carter as she won the 2009 NCAA Discus title in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It was the first field event national title in program history and the 12th title on the female side.