Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Indoor Championships
Tech Men Finish Fifth At Big 12 Championships
February 28, 2004 | Track and Field
Feb. 28, 2004
LINCOLN, Neb. - In the final day of competition at the Big 12 Championships, the Texas Tech men's team moved up to finish fifth with 60.33 total points today at the Devaney Sports Complex in Lincoln, Neb. The women tied for 11th with a total of 28 points. Tech turned in six top three finishes with four Red Raiders named runner-up.
Senior Aki Heikkinen held his second place spot in his first heptathlon of the season finishing with 5,323 points, good enough for a provisional qualifying performance. His marks include 60m (7.37), long jump (22'-3"), shot put (44'-9.75"), high jump (6'-2"), 60m hurdles (8.63), pole vault (15'-7") and 1000m (3:03.93).
After a prelim time of 8.21, freshman Shawon Harris ran an 8.33 in the finals of the 60m hurdles to finish in eighth place. Junior Tyree Gailes finished in sixth in the 60m dash with a time of 6.83, contributing three points for the Red Raiders.
Junior Brionne Yosten finished eighth in the mile with a time of 4:58.43 after a semi-final performance of 4:48.21.
Junior Geralda Dukuly's mark of 40'-2.75" (12.26m) in the triple jump was good enough for a personal best but was just short of a top eight mark. Dukuly finished in ninth. In the high jump, freshman Misty Coley tied a collegiate career best jump of 5'-8.0" (1.73m) to finish in sixth.
Freshman Kathy Nwagbo made a great improvement today as she finished in sixth with a time of 1:27.30 in the 600y run after running a prelim time of 1:28.66.
Entering into the 600y run, Tech men were in 12th place but a knock out appearance by Jonathan Johnson moved the team into eighth place. Johnson finished in second with a time of 1:09.58, just .001 behind Kansas State's Joseph Lee.
Junior Licretia Sibley finished in third in the 400m dash, behind two of the No. 4 Texas women, with a time of 54.02, her first provisional mark of the season. On the men's side juniors Albert Booker and Matt Stewart edged the team spot to sixth with Booker finishing in third and Stewart in sixth. Booker finished in a time of 46.92 for his second provisional qualifying mark of the season while Stewart finished in a time of 48.19.
In the 200, Booker was runner-up with a time of 21.03, behind Kansas' Leo Bookman who clocked the fastest time in the nation and the third fastest in the world, 20.58. On the women's side Shereefa Lloyd finished in fifth with a time of 23.72, her second provisional qualifying mark after setting her first on day one of competition. Booker repeated last year's Championships with him earning all-conference honors in the 200 and 400 in 2003.
Junior Jared Thornhill was the conference runner-up with a jump of 17'-00" (5.18m) in the pole vault. With one more miss than Thornhill, freshman Sage Thames turned in a fourth-place finish with a mark of 17'-00" (5.18m).
Sophomore Clifton Eddington finished eighth with a mark of 48'-10.75" (14.90m), 4.0" better than last year's finish at the Big 12 Championships. Junior Chad Pharis was Tech's final score in field events on the men's side as he tied for eighth in the high jump with a height of 6'-8.75" (2.05m).
Junior Bridget Tidwell finished sixth in the 3000m with a time of 9:43.87, a career best mark.
The No. 10 women's and the No.10 men's relay team faced the best in the nation with the field including the men's No.1 Baylor Bears and the women's No. 1 Texas Longhorns in the final heats of each race. Polk led off for the Red Raiders and handed off, in second place, right behind Texas to Lloyd. Lloyd fought off Baylor but dropped the baton causing Tech to fall to last place. Senior Rachelle Evans and Sibley ran hard but the team finished in a time of 4:00.58 and an eighth-place finish.
Stewart led off the mile relay handing off to Booker with Tech in fourth place. Booker crept up on Baylor and at the handoff to sophomore Orin Darrington left Tech in third place. Darrington fell to fourth before handing off to anchor Johnson. Johnson could not take back a lead and the team finished in fourth of heat two with a time of 3:10.88. Tech finished fifth overall, earning all-conference honors for the second consecutive year.
Complete results can be found at www.huskers.com. Texas Tech will take some of its competitors to Ames, Iowa next weekend for the Iowa State Last Chance before the team competes at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Texas Tech Results For February 28, 2004
Heptathlon Aki Heikkinen (2nd, 5323 pts.) 60m - 7.37 (755 pts.), long jump - 22'-3" (6.78m) (762 pts.), shot put - 44'-9.75" (13.66m) (708 pts.), high jump - 6'-2" (1.88m) (696 pts.), 60m hurdles - 8.63 (829 pts.), pole vault - 15'-7" (4.75m) (834 pts.), 1000m - 2:52.24 (739 pts.)
Chad Andrews (11th, 4326 pts.) 60m - 7.75 (634 pts.), long jump - 22'-2.25" (6.15m) (619 pts.), shot put - 39'-3.25" (11.97m) (605 pts.), high jump - 5'-11.5" (1.82m) (644 pts.), 60m hurdles - 8.63 (829), pole vault - 10'-00" (3.05m) (369 pts.), 1000m - 3:03.93 (626 pts.)
Triple Jump (W) Janalyn Givens 38'-5.0" (11.71m) 14th Geralda Dukuly 40'-2.75" (12.26m) 9th
High Jump (W) Misty Coley 5'-8.00" (1.73m) 6th Lacy Wilson 5'-6.00" (1.68m) 10th
Shot Put (M) Brad Kring 53'-7.50" (16.34m) 11th
Pole Vault (M) Sage Thames 17'-00" (5.18m) 4th Ken Wilson 16'-00" (4.88m) 9th Randall Klaus NH DNP Seth Harris 15'-6.25" (4.73m) 11th Chris Ashcraft 16'-00" (4.88m) 10th Jared Thornhill 17'-00" (5.18m) 2nd
Triple Jump (M) Clifton Eddington 48'-10.75" (14.90m) 8th
High Jump (M) Chad Pharis 6'-8.75" (2.05m) t8th
Shot Put (W) Megan Schuessler 46'-3.50" (14.11m) 10th
60m hurdles (M) Shawon Harris 8.21 (s),8.33 (f) 8th
60m dash (M) Tyree Gailes 6.85 (s),6.83 (f) 6th
200m (M) Albert Booker 20.99 (s), 21.03 (f) 2nd
200m (W) Shereefa Lloyd 23.91, 23.72 (f) 5th
400m (W) Licretia Sibley 55.12 (s), 54.02 (f) 3rd
400m (M) Matt Stewart 48.25 (s), 48.19 (f) 6th Albert Booker 47.71 (s), 46.92 (f) 3rd
600y (M) Jonathan Johnson 1:10.13 (s),1:09.58 (f) 2nd
600y (W) Kathy Nwagbo 1:28.66 (s), 1:27.30 6th
Mile (W) Brionne Yosten 4:48.21 (s), 4:58.43 8th
3000m (W) Stefanie Calhoun 10:08.98 24th Katie Leonard 9:58.89 19th Maegan Cartrite DNF DNP Tracie Akerhielm 9:52.26 11th Bridget Tidwell 9:43.87 6th
3000m (M) Joseph McCellon 8:35.36 30th Frank Ngeno 8:49.78 51st Kyle Atwood 8:51.07 53rd Benson Cheserek 8:30.88 23rd
4x400 (M) Matt Stewart 3:10.88 5th Albert Booker Orin Darrington Jonathan Johnson
4x400 (W) Tori Polk 4:00.58 9th Shereefa Lloyd Rachelle Evans Licretia Sibley
Players Mentioned
