Women's Track Finishes Third at Big 12's

Saturday, February 25

Lincoln, Neb.

All Day

Texas Tech Athletics

Big 12 Championships

Althea Chambers won the Big 12 title in the 800M, setting a new Big 12 Championship meet record.

Women's Track Finishes Third at Big 12's

February 25, 2006 | Track and Field

Feb. 25, 2006

Complete Results | Photo Gallery

Lincoln, Neb. - Day two proved more successful then day one for Texas Tech track and field at the 2006 Indoor Big 12 Championships. The Red Raiders took one individual title, four second-place finishes and broke three school records.

The women's squad finished in a program-high third place with 68 points. The Texas women won the team title with 125 points. The men's squad finished in fourth place, matching the program high, with 72 points. The Texas men won the team title with 127 points.

Althea Chambers won the Big 12 title in the 800M with her clocking of 2:06.94, a new Big 12 Championships meet record, the second-best mark in school history and a personal best. The time is also Chambers' second provisional qualifying clocking of the season. Her time propels her to No. 11 in the nation in the event.

"I learned from the mistakes I made while running at Tyson and I really tried to fix that today," said Chambers. "My performance here today is very motivating and I'm so thankful for my god-given talent. This is one of the best races I've seen on the Big 12 level."

In the 800M, Zach Glavash crushed Jonathan Johnson's school record of 1:47.22, set in 2005, with his time of 1:46.80. The clocking was good for a second-place finish behind defending Outdoor National Champion Dmitrijs Milkevics of Nebraska and is also an NCAA automatic qualifying time. Both Glavash and Milkevics clocked times under the Devaney Center record of 1:47.70, set in 1996. Milkevics will hold the new Devaney Center record of 1:46.46. Milkevics' and Glavash's times boost the pair to No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, respectively.

In the finals of the 60M hurdles, Daryl Burgess claimed a second-place finish with a new school record of 7.77 and the first All-Big 12 honor of his career. Shawon Harris finished fourth with a 7.87 and Marlon Odom clocked a 7.92, good for a fifth-place finish. Burgess and Harris also posted NCAA provisional qualifying times. Harris and Odom earned their sixth and fourth, respectively, all-conference honor of their careers.

"It feel great to do well here (at the Big 12 Championships)," said Burgess, a junior transfer from South Plains College. "My performance wouldn't be possible without my teammates. It was a fast heat and we wanted to go 1, 2, 3. It didn't happen that way but we are still really pleased with our finishes. This race gave us a lot of insight for the NCAAs in Arkansas."

Misty Coley and Lacy Wilson combined for a 2-3 finish, respectively, in the high jump and 14 points. Coley and Wilson both cleared the bar set at 5'-10", an NCAA provisional mark.

The duo of Irene Kimaiyo and Violet Chemakwila scored again for the women's squad on the second day of competition. Kimaiyo finished third in the 3000M with her provisional qualifying time of 9:31.08. Chemakwila ran a time of 9:39.61, good for a sixth-place finish. The pair combined for 20 points over the two-day event.

Kevin Chelimo finished second in the 3000M with a clocking of 8:05.76. In the finals of the mile, Chelimo clocked a 4:07.05, good for a fifth-place finish and the fourth all-conference honor of his career. Also a fifth-place finish, Bobby Evers marked a leap of 48'-7.5" in the triple jump. Freshman Jansen Hyde also scored in the event, marking a leap of 48'-3.25", good for an eighth-place finish, his first All-Big 12 honor of his career.

In the pole vault, All-American Sage Thames matched his third-place finish from 2005 with his third NCAA provisional mark of the season, 17'-7", also a current season best. Thames has now totaled five all-conference honors in his career.

Sophomore Harrison Benjamin finished fourth in the shot put with a throw of 59'-6.25", an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, a personal best and a new school record. Benjamin replaces the previous record of 58'-4.5", set in 2000, by Ty Williams.

Andrae Williams clocked a 1:09.99 in the finals of the 600Y and finished in fourth place with the sixth all-conference honor of his career. Also, a fourth-place finish, Michael Mathieu clocked a 21.34 in the 200M, good for his sixth All-Big 12 honor of his career.

Chad Andrews finished sixth in the heptathlon with a NCAA provisional-qualifying point total of 5,302, also a new personal best and the second-best mark in school history. Andrews set three personal bests (60M - 7.44, long jump - 22'-6.5", pole vault - 14'-9") en route to his all-conference honor, the first of his career.

Melissa Branch finished seventh in the finals of the 60M dash with a clocking of 7.52 and earned the third all-conference honor of her career. In the shot put, freshman D'Andra Carter earned her first All-Big 12 honor of her career with an eight-place finish. Carter marked a toss of 47'-2.5", a new personal best.

The women's 4x400M, Louise Cox, Patricia Mayers, Tia Barginear and Althea Chambers, clocked a 3:43.53, good for a fifth-place finish and all-conference honors. The men's 4x400M relay, Michael Mathieu, Shawon Harris, Zach Glavash and Andrae Williams, combined for a clocking of 3:10.47 and a third-place finish.

2006 All-Big 12 Honors

Melissa Branch, 60M, 7th

Michael Mathieu, 200M, 4th

Andrae Williams, 600Y, 4th

Althea Chambers, 800M, 1st

Zach Glavash, 800M, 2nd

Kevin Chelimo, Mile, 5th

Kevin Chelimo, 3000M, 2nd

Irene Kimaiyo, 3000M, 3rd

Violet Chemakwila, 3000M, 6th

Violet Chemakwila, 5000M, 3rd

Irene Kimaiyo, 5000M, 4th