Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Outdoor Championships
Heikkinen Brings Home First Big 12 Title Of Meet
April 30, 2004 | Track and Field
April 30, 2004
NORMAN, Okla. - The Texas Tech men's track team is in third place and the women in 10th, with 11 athletes qualifying today in 13 events for tomorrow's finals with a chance to score points at the 2004 Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla. The Tech men have 28.5 points while the women's team has 11.5 points, with 29 events left to score tomorrow.
Senior Aki Heikkinen entered day two of the decathlon in first-place and left with a first-place finish, valued at ten points. Heikkinen won both the pole vault with a height of 15'-9.00 " (4.80m) and the javelin with a distance of 201'-11" (61.54m). He finished third in both the discus and 110m hurdles with a throw of 126'-7" (38.59m) and a time of 15.09, respectively. Heikkinen secured his Big 12 Champion title with a time of 4:54.54 in the 1500m run. His 7,559 points was not only an automatic qualifying mark but also a school record. This is also the first Big 12 title in the decathlon for the Texas Tech track program. After finishing as runner up at the Indoor Championships, Heikkinen is pleased with his performance.
"I was really happy to do all events because last year I couldn't compete at all. I just wanted to finish healthy and score enough points to get myself to Nationals and to the Olympics. That is my main goal now, " said Heikkinen.
Junior Brionne Yosten finished the prelims of the 1500m run in 4:28.35, a regional qualifying mark, to advance to tomorrow's finals at 4:45 p.m.
Tech's pole vaulters turned in 10.50 points toward the team total with redshirt freshman Sage Thames leading the way. Thames vaulted 16'-9.25" (5.11m) for a third-place finish while junior Jared Thornhill cleared 16'-4.75" (5.00m) for a fifth-place tie. Senior Ken Wilson earned his first-time all-conference honor with an eighth-place finish, clearing 16'-4.75" (5.00m).
The freshman pair of high jumpers faired well in their first appearance at the conference championships. Lacy Wilson cleared 5'-8.0" (1.73m) to tie for third while Misty Coley finished in eighth with a jump of 5'-6" (1.68m). The duo turned in 6.50 points for the women's team.
Freshman Brad Kring turned in two points for the team with a seventh-place finish in the shot put. Kring threw 54'-9.50" (16.70m) for his second regional qualifying mark of the season and his best at the collegiate level.
Backed by a time of 14.15 in the 110m hurdles, freshman Shawon Harris qualified for tomorrow's finals at 5:20 p.m., finishing fifth overall.
The Tech women came out strong in the 400m run with two advancing to finals tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. Junior Licretia Sibley finished first in the prelims with a time of 52.85 while sophomore Ashley Stevens finished sixth with a time of 55.28. Sibley finished ahead of three from the No. 3 Texas women's team. Junior Matt Stewart advanced to finals after a prelim time of 47.20 and a fifth-place finish.
The women's team added two more to its final qualifying roster in the 100m with junior Shereefa Lloyd and sophomore JaToya Moore. Lloyd finished in fourth with a time of 11.62 and Lloyd in eighth with a time of 11.82 to advance to tomorrow's finals set for 4:30 p.m. Junior Tyree Gailes finished in fifth in the 100m dash with a time of 10.49
Junior Jonathan Johnson paced the way for the competition in the 800m run with a time of 1:49.57 and a first-place prelim finish. Johnson will look to defend his title tomorrow at 6 p.m. A win for Johnson tomorrow would make him the only Red Raider in school history to win three Big 12 titles in one event.
Freshman Bryan Scott came out strong in the prelims of the 400m hurdles with a time of 51.26, the best of any Red Raider this season. His mark earned him a first-place finish and a better regional qualifying mark. Harris finished fifth with a time of 52.69 and Chris Hickman finished eighth with a time of 52.69. Scott, Harris and Hcikman will compete tomorrow at 6:15 p.m.
Lloyd will make another appearance in tomorrow's finals, this one in the 200m dash. Lloyd finished fifth in today's race with a time of 23.36. A duo on the men's side, Stewart and Gailes, will compete in tomorrow's finals of the 200m. Stewart turned in a time of 20.99 and Gailes a time of 20.92.
The Championships will wrap up tomorrow with field events scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and track events at 4 p.m. Junior Chad Pharis will look to defend his 2003 high jump title tomorrow at 5 p.m. Live results can be found at http://sml1.com/recordtiming//big12/?ATCLID=34591&DB_OEM_ID=300. Complete results can be found at www.soonersports.com.
Players Mentioned
