Texas Tech Track Set for NCAA Midwest Regional
May 28, 2003 | Track and Field
May 28, 2003
Lubbock, Texas - With the 2003 regular season a thing of the past, 31 members of the Texas Tech men and women's track and field teams are headed to Lincoln, Neb., this weekend for the final step towards a berth in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
The 16th-ranked men's team will send 18 athletes to compete in 12 events, while the women's team is sending 11 athletes to compete in 11 events.
The regional meet will be scored the same as the conference championships was and the NCAA Championships will be with first-place earning 10 points followed by second earning eight points, third equaling six points, fourth (5), fifth (4), sixth (3), seventh (2) and eighth (1). Not only will teams be looking to score points, the top five athletes in each individual event and top three in relays will earn the right to compete at the national meet in June.
For the men, Jonathan Johnson holds the Midwest region's top mark in the 800-meter run and Bobby Most holds the region's top elevation in the pole vault. After a second-place finish at the Big 12 Championships the 1,600-meter relay team enters the meet third, as does Jason Young in the discus. Chad Pharis took the gold-medal in the high jump at the conference championships and moved into fifth on the descending order list. Julieon Raeburn and Albert Booker will be asked to do triple duties as both are on the two relays and will run in individual events. Raeburn is sixth in the 200, as is Booker in the 400. Aki Heikkinen enters the meet seventh in the javelin and Jared Thornhill is eighth in the pole vault.
On the women's side, Brionne Yosten is fourth in the region at the 1,500 and has the top female ranking entering the weekend. The 1,600-meter relay team of Rachelle Evans, LaToya Fry, Karletha Cook and Licretia Sibley are seventh, while Tracie Akerhielm and Megan Schuessler are eighth in the 5,000 and discus, respectively.
If an athlete does not finish in the top 5/3 they could still get invited to the national championships by way of an at-large bid for having a top mark during the regular season.
Results from this weekend's meet can be found at www.huskers.com.