Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Track Set for First Road Trip
January 25, 2006 | Track and Field
Jan. 25, 2006
Lubbock, Texas - Texas Tech track and field will split up this weekend as the squad makes the first road trip of the 2006 season. The pole vault crew will travel to Reno, Nev., for the annual Pole Vault Summit while the rest of the team will head to Albuquerque for the New Mexico Multis and Invitational.
In Albuquerque, the men's heptathlon will take place on Thursday and Friday while the women's pentathlon will occur on Friday. The Invitational will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday with the field events and the running events will start at 11:30 a.m.
Competing in this weekend's events will be Florida, Houston, Long Beach State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts, Rice (women's pentathlon), Texas (men's heptathlon), and UT- San Antonio.
At the Pole Vault Summit, in Reno, Nev., the vault competition will take place on Sat., Jan. 28, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. For complete details of the 2006 Pole Vault Summit, visit www.polevaultsummit.com.
A new addition to the 2006 season was released on Tues., Jan 24. The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) will be releasing the official, NCAA recognized poll every week throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons. More information regarding the poll and its existence can be found at www.ustfccca.com.
The Tech men are listed at 11th in the rankings. In the conference race, the Red Raiders are seated ahead of No. 14 Kansas and No. 17 Kansas State. Also in Big 12 action, Texas is seated at No. 3, Nebraska at No. 7 and Texas A&M at No. 9.
The Tech women have yet to break through in the team rankings. In conference action, Texas is ranked at No.3, Nebraska at No. 4 and Texas A&M at No. 12.
In this week's Trackwire 25 Dandy Dozen, Andrae Williams continues his run at No. 2 in the 400M while Michael Mathieu sits at 11th. Shawon Harris is leading three Red Raiders in the 60M hurdles. Harris is seated at eighth, Marlon Odom is listed at 10th and Daryl Burgess is ranked 11th. The men's 4x400M is also still seated at the third behind LSU and Baylor.
On the women's side, Tori Polk is seated at fourth in the long jump and Althea Chambers is ranked eighth in the 800M.
Last weekend, the team competed in two home meets. At the Wes Kittley Invitational, Shawon Harris set a new school record in the 55M hurdles, with his prelim clocking of 7.32. He replaced the previous mark of 7.35 set by teammate Daryl Burgess on Jan. 14, 2006.
Harris, a junior and a native of Abilene, Texas, was first in the prelims and went on to run a 7.38 in the finals, finishing in a tie for second. His mark of 7.32 is a new personal best and also provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Championships in March.
Also in the 55M hurdles, Marlon Odom set a new personal best with his clocking of 7.33 in the prelims of the event, also the second-best mark in school history. His time also provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Championships in March.
At the Wes Kittley 6 Way, qualifying efforts continued as Bobby Most produced an NCAA provisionally qualifying mark in the pole vault. Harris also reset his school record in the 55M hurdles, his second record-setting time in as many days.
Harris was third in the prelims with a clocking of 7.45 and went on to run a 7.30 in the finals, a personal best, school record and the ATC facility record, as well as a provisional qualifying time.
Most won the pole vault with a clearance of 17'-0.75", also a provisional qualifying mark. The Red Raider men have now qualified four athletes in two events for the NCAA Championships.
In the men's 4x400M, the Red Raiders paced TCU to a photo finish with a clocking of 3:11.24 while the Horned Frogs ran a 3:11.29. The Tech relay was comprised of Bryan Scott, Harris, Zach Glavash and Michael Mathieu. The women's 4x400M, Patricia Mayers, Louise Cox, Althea Chambers and Tori Polk, finished a close second to the Lady Frogs with a time of 3:42.61.
For complete details of Texas Tech track and field, visit www.texastech.com.
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