Texas Tech University Athletics
Outdoor Season Opens With the Texas Tech Invitational
March 17, 2004 | Track and Field
March 17, 2004
LUBBOCK, Texas - After a successful indoor season with the women's team finishing 45th at Nationals, Tech opens the 2004 outdoor season Sat. March 20 at R.P. Fuller Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. The Texas Tech Invitational is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with field events followed by track events at 2 p.m.
Tech had four 2004 indoor All-Americans with senior Rachelle Evans, junior Shereefa Lloyd, junior Licretia Sibley and sophomore Tori Polk turning in a seventh-place finish with a time of 3:34.93, the second-fastest time in school history.
Tech looks to improve on the 2003 outdoor season where the team turned in the best finish in school history. The team finished 17th at Nationals with a third-place finish at regionals. Tech was ranked as high as 15th by Trackwire 25 with the sprint medley relay team of current juniors Matt Stewart, Albert Booker, Jonathan Johnson and departed senior Julieon Raeburn ranked No.1.
The men's team finished fourth at the conference Championships with the women finishing 10th. Junior Chad Pharis gave Tech its first conference title in a field event with a jump of 7'-2.5" in the high jump, a personal best. Junior Bobby Most added a title with a vault of 18'-0.5" while Johnson defended his 800m title with a time of 1:48.13.
Senior Jason Young became Tech's first NCAA Regional Champion with a personal best throw of 200'-6" in the discus. Johnson claimed the title in the 800 with a time of 1:47.64. Five athletes earned All-American status with the men's 4x400 relay team finishing in fourth with a time of 3:04.76. Johnson finished second in the 800, only 0.1 seconds behind the winner while Young recorded a fling of 194'-5" for a fourth-place finish.
The team made outstanding strides through out the season to elevate its success. Losing only one All-American and the addition of a highly touted recruiting class, the team should continue its journey to a National Championship.
Eastern New Mexico, South Plains College, Wayland Baptist and Texas Tech make up the field for the TTU Invitational. Complete results can be found after the meet at www.texastech.com.
Players Mentioned
