Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Outdoor Championships
Tech Men, Women Place Seventh at Championships
May 19, 2002 | Track and Field
May 19, 2002
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The men's track team recorded its best-ever finish at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships while the women equaled last year's seventh place finish at Audrey J. Walton Track-Soccer Complex in Columbia, Mo., Sunday.
Freshman Tiffany Green entered the meet as the defending Big 12 champion in both the 100 and 200 and put her titles on the line this afternoon. The Hamlin, Texas, native found an extra gear coming off the second turn and began to catch Texas' Aleah Williams. Down the home stretch Green and Williams were neck and neck. And when the pair crossed the finish line they were still neck and neck. Not until 30 minutes later did the results board show the Green had become the first Red Raider to repeat as a champion since joining the Big 12.
Williams (11.42) had already stripped Green (11.45) of her 100 title as Green finished third behind teammate Monique Wright-Cruse (11.44). The race was just as close at the finish as the 200 with only .03 seconds separating William's win and Green's third place.
The race of the day on the men's side was the 4x100 relay. The quartet of Albert Booker, Julieon Raeburn, Ivory McCann and Carlos Francis passed the baton around the track in a time of 40.08 to claim Tech's first title in a relay since the 1960's. The relay was tightly contested as Francis' leg crapped up with about 10 meters left, allowing the Longhorns to catch up. At the wire Francis lunged forward, won the race and rolled across the track.
The women's 4x100 looked to have dethroned Texas as Big 12 champs coming down the final straight away. Rachelle Evans got Tech out of the blocks and hung with the Longhorn runner before giving way to Green. Green raced threw the second leg and handed off to Ashley Mitchell. Tech was trailing the Horns through three legs but a bad final exchange allowed Tech to take the lead. Wright-Cruse was neck and neck with the Longhorn runner until the end when Texas pulled away with a .11 second win.
Freshman Jonathan Johnson became just the second male athlete to claim an individual title since 1997. Johnson cruised to the title in the 800 as he posted a time of 1:50.19 time.
Redshirt freshman Jason Young threw his way into a second place finish in the discus with a fling of 195-11.00 to earn his second all-conference honor of the meet.
In the women's 400 Licretia Sibley ran to a 53.59 fourth place finish and sophomore Evans sprinted to a 54.27 sixth place finish.
The men's 200 and 400 featured the same trio of runners as McCann, Raeburn and Booker all qualified for today's finals. The three athletes combined for 10 points in the 200 and 12 in 400.
Shannon Spaulding ran her way into a second place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:06.45 as she was able to pass and hold off a charge from A&M's Maria Pantoja and Baylor's Lanie Millar.
The women's 4x400 placed third behind Texas and Baylor with a time of 3:37.11 and finished the meet with 61 points the most it has ever scored at a Big 12 Championship and matched last year's seventh place finish.
Booker and McCann had already run in three races for the day and it showed as they made up half the 4x400 relay. The men never really challenged the Bears who took the title, finishing in a time of 3:09.16 and scored eight points. The points moved Tech up from eighth to seventh as they scored 66 points just a point off of fifth place. 2002 marks the first time that the men have placed higher than tenth since joining the Big 12.
All told, Tech had 37 all-conference performances in 2002. With the exception of Young Tech must now wait until the NCAA announces its field for the Championships next week to see who is headed to Baton Rouge, La., later this month.
