Red Raiders To Open NCAA Outdoor Championships Wednesday
June 07, 2016 | Track and Field
June 7, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The No. 10 men's and No. 22 women's Texas Tech track & field teams sends 14 entries to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 8-11 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, in search of more hardware to the scarlet & black trophy case.
Kittley, Felkins, Brown & Carson all earn @USTFCCCA region honors. https://t.co/UkrwYcrJaf #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/tzgkyOiVfF
-- TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) June 6, 2016
The meet will be streamed live on the ESPN family of networks. Day one will air on ESPNU or ESPN2 beginning at 4:30 p.m. PDT., then will continue on ESPN or ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m. PDT. Day two will start on ESPNU or ESPN2 (4:30 p.m. PDT) and will continue on ESPN or ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m. PDT. The final two days of the meet will air on ESPN, beginning Friday at 5:30 p.m. PDT and Saturday at 3:30 p.m. PDT. All four days will also stream live on WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app. Expanded coverage of the field events will start on day one at 12:30 p.m. PDT, day two at 10:30 a.m. PDT, day three at 12:30 p.m. PDT and day four at 11:30 a.m. PDT.
In order to qualify for the NCAA Championships, the Red Raiders had to finish in the top 12 of their events two weeks ago at the NCAA West Preliminaries. Tech advanced 14 entries to this year's meet, 12 individuals and two relays. The Red Raiders will roll two deep in the men's high jump and the women's javelin, while Charles Brown (long & triple jump) and Hannah Carson (javelin & discus) will pull double duty and compete in multiple events, along with the possibility of others on the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
The sprints semifinals will advance the top two from each of the three heats, plus the next best two to the finals. In the distance events, the top five from each of the two heats will move on, as well as the next best two times.
The men's & women's teams are No. 10 & No. 22, respectively, in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) computer rankings. The Red Raiders have been ranked in the top 25 of every outdoor poll since 2008.
On June 6, the Red Raiders were honored with four USTFCCCA Mountain region awards, as voted on by the coaches. Charles Brown & Hannah Carson were named Men's & Women's Field Athlete of the Year, Cliff Felkins received Women's Assistant Coach of the Year and Wes Kittley garnered Women's Head Coach of the Year honors.
EVENT-BY-EVENT BREAKDOWN
- Men's 4x100 Relay: The Red Raiders grabbed the final qualifying spot out of the NCAA West Prelims with a time of 40.01 seconds. The quartet of Joseph Richards III, Andrew Hudson, Kareem McBride & Nigel Bethel is Tech's first sprint relay at the NCAA Championships since 2012 and fifth overall. Tech holds a season-best 39.50 set on April 23 at the Michael Johnson Invitational. A win would be the first NCAA title in the event in program history. The semifinal is slated for Wednesday, June 8, at 4:32 p.m. PDT, with the final on Friday, June 10, at 5:32 p.m. PDT.
- Men's Pole Vault: Brandon Bray will be one of five freshmen competing in the event after notching a personal-best clearance of 5.38m/17-7.75 in the Prelims. His mark puts him at fourth among qualifying marks to this year's meet. It marks back-to-back years the Red Raiders have had a pole vaulter qualify for the meet. A win would be the first NCAA title in the event in program history. Bray will take off on Wednesday, June 8, at 5 p.m. PDT.
- Men's 3000m Steeplechase: Benard Keter has won steeplechase titles at the NAIA & NJCAA levels, and will get his crack at the NCAA championship this week. At the Prelims, he clocked in with the top time in the West behind a school record and eighth-best West regional meet time ever at 8:39.92, continuing his 2016 unbeaten streak in the event. The 2016 Big 12 Champion is the second Red Raider to advance to the NCAA Championships in the event and a win would be the first NCAA title in program history. The semifinal is slated for Wednesday, June 8, at 5:02 p.m. PDT, with the final on Friday, June 10, at 5:54 p.m. PDT.
- Men's 110H: Chris Caldwell will be making his first NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance after clocking in with the sixth-fastest Prelims time at 13.74 seconds. The two-time Big 12 champion is the seventh Red Raider to qualify in the event and the first since 2012. A win would be the first NCAA title in the event in program history. The semifinal is slated for Wednesday, June 8, at 5:32 p.m. PDT, with the final on Friday, June 10, at 6:12 p.m. PDT.
- Men's Long Jump: Charles Brown will be one of two freshmen to compete in the event after hitting a mark of 7.51m/24-7.75 at the Prelims. He berth marks back-to-back years a Red Raider has advanced to the outdoor championships in the event and fifth overall. A win would be the first NCAA title in program history. The 2016 Big 12 Champion takes flight on Wednesday, June 8, at 6 p.m. PDT.
- Men's 400H: JW Smith will make his first NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance after winning his heat with a time of 51.03 seconds to auto-qualify. His time was the sixth-fastest among qualifiers from the West region and made him the seventh Red Raider to advance in the event. A win would be the first NCAA title in program history. The semifinal is slated for Wednesday, June 8, at 6:30 p.m. PDT, with the final on Friday, June 10, at 6:57 p.m. PDT.
- Men's 4x400 Relay: The Red Raiders sealed an automatic qualifying spot to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after taking second in their heat of the Prelims at 3:04.87. The quartet of Joseph Richards III, C.J. Jones, JW Smith & Vincent Crisp make up the 10th overall outdoor squad to advance to the meet and signaled back-to-back years to qualify. That time was a season-best for the Red Raiders and was just outside the top 10 in the school's record books. A win would be the first NCAA title in program history. The semifinal is slated for Wednesday, June 8, at 7:48 p.m. PDT, with the final on Friday, June 10, at 7:51 p.m. PDT.
- Women's Javelin: The Red Raiders will have two entries in the event this year: Hannah Carson & Natalie Baker. Carson, the NCAA leader, tossed a mark of 55.70m/182-9 to finish second at the West Prelims, qualifying for her fourth-straight NCAA Championships. Baker tossed a personal-best 50.00m/164-0 to place ninth in the region and 12th overall to advance to her first NCAA meet. Last year, Carson was the NCAA runner-up after tossing a then-school record; this year, she's already broken that record and has come within a few feet of the Olympic Standard at 60.42m/198-3. A win would be the first NCAA title in the event in program history. Carson & Baker begin throwing on Thursday, June 9, at 5:45 p.m. PDT.
- Men's High Jump: The Red Raiders will also have two entries in this year's meet: Trey Culver & Bradley Adkins. Culver cleared 2.16m/7-1 on his third attempt at the height to advance, while Adkins took a page from Culver's 2015 outdoor season and punched his ticket after winning a jump-off. It'll be Adkins' fourth-straight NCAA Outdoor Championships and Culver's second. Last year, Adkins was the NCAA runner-up to teammate JaCorian Duffield, while Culver placed 11th. Adkins' second-place finish made him and Duffield the first teammates to go 1-2 at the outdoor meet since 1939. In 2016, Culver led the NCAA for over a month outdoors with a clearance of 2.26m/7-3, while Adkins led the NCAA during the indoor season after jumping 2.29m/7-6. A win would mark the second outdoor title in Tech history and fourth overall. Culver & Adkins begin jumping on Friday, June 10, at 5 p.m. PDT.
- Men's Triple Jump: Charles Brown will be one of two to compete in both the long & triple jump this week and the only freshman in the triple jump field. He qualified after hitting another personal-best at the Prelims at 16.05m/52-8 to finish seventh in the region. The mark was also the ninth-best jump in school history and ensured he would be the first Red Raider to advance in both events in the same season. Brown will be the fifth Red Raider to qualify in the event and will begin jumping on Friday, June 10, at 5:30 p.m. PDT.
- Women's High Jump: Zarriea Willis has had her best performances of her young career in each of the last two meets, clearing 1.76m/5-9.25 at both the Big 12 Championships & the NCAA West Prelims to punch her ticket to Eugene. The mark at the regional meet gave her a 10th-place finish and made her the third Red Raider to advance to the NCAA Championships in the event. A win would be the first NCAA title in program history. Willis takes flight on Saturday, June 11, at 3 p.m. PDT.
- Women's Discus: In one of the rarest combos in the sport, Hannah Carson will be the first to compete in both the javelin & discus event since 2012. She qualified after claiming the top spot in the West Prelims at 58.38m/191-6. It was also the No. 2 throw in school history and made Carson the third Red Raider to qualify in the event. In the final regular season meet of the year, Carson launched the discus to a school record 61.97m/203-4 to shatter the school record, put her at No. 2 in the NCAA and give her the 2016 Olympic standard. It also made her the first female to ever break the 60-meter barrier in both the javelin & discus in the same season and joined Martina Ratej (Slovenia) as only the women to ever accomplish the feat. A win would be the second NCAA title in program history, joining D'Andra Carter in 2009. A victory in both the javelin & discus for Carson would make her the first student-athlete to ever win both in the history of the NCAA. Carson takes her shot at history on Saturday, June 11, at 3:05 p.m. PDT.
Players Mentioned
