Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Outdoor Championships
Tech Concludes Championships with Seven Titles
May 13, 2007 | Track and Field
May 13, 2007
LINCOLN, Neb. - During the final day of the Big 12 Championships, the Texas Tech Red Raiders walked away with six gold medals, including two from Sally Kipyego. The men had four student-athletes capture crowns in their respective events, with Marlon Odom and Bryan Scott earning their third Big 12 titles and first-time victories coming from Zach Glavash (800M) and Jamie Robinson (javelin).
The victories contributed to a second-place overall finish by the Tech men, who notched 100 team points. The women finished with a fourth-place finish, the Red Raiders' second best Big 12 standing, ending with 87 points.
Head coach Wes Kittley expressed his pride in his team responding to a leg injury that standout freshman Brandon Washington suffered during the men's 400M prelims on Saturday.
"I am proud of how we performed considering Brandon and the state of mind that put us in," Kittley said. "They responded to take five first places in the meet. It is a shame we didn't have him, and we could have folded the tent. But we did well for him. Jamie (Robinson) was our diamond in the rough and our vaulters did really well. We came close to winning the whole thing again."
The women took fourth after having finished a disappointing seventh last season. Coach Kittley credits the number of qualifying runners with the strong push on Sunday.
"We put more individuals into the finals today than we did last year," Kittley said. "That allowed more to score for us today. We were so close to third. I told the team before competition that we had the opportunity to win third, and we got very close."
Sophomore Kipyego again earned multiple titles at the Big 12 Championships. In the 1500M, the Marakwet, Kenya, native ran a personal best mark of 4:21.57 to take the title. She finished nearly four seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Jessica Eldridge of Oklahoma. She cruised to the 5000M title, running a winning time of 16:43.01. She finished ahead of teammate Irene Kimaiyo who won the silver with a time of 16:56.70. Violet Chemakwila earned the Red Raider women four points with a fifth-place run of 17:27.56.
Kipyego's 1500M and 5000M titles bring her to a total of six conference crowns. The sophomore broke into her Tech career as the first Red Raider to win the Big 12 individual cross country title. She then added three golds following the Big 12 Indoor Championships, as she won the women's mile, 3000M and anchored the distance medley relay victory.
In the men's 800M, senior Glavash captured his first Big 12 title, earning the fifth Tech 800M title. The 2006 indoor All-American in the event ran a personal best mark of 1:47.99, while his previous best was a 1:49.32 from 2006 TCU Invitational. As the second Red Raider to win the event during the conference history, Glavash joins former national champion Jonathan Johnson who took the Big 12 crown four years from 2002-05.
Senior Robinson threw a personal best to earn the Big 12 title in the men's javelin. The Red Raider out of Anson, Texas, who previously competed in the multis events for Tech, threw for 222'-10", three feet over his PR distance. Robinson returned to the Big 12 Championships after suffering from tendonitis in the shoulder earlier this season, having only competed in the first two outdoor events. He marks Texas Tech's first javelin titlist and first overall throwing champion. Robinson threw his previous best of 219'-8" at last year's conference championships when he finished second.
Returning to title form in the 400M hurdles was Scott, who previously won the 2004 and 2005 crown. The senior added the 2007 gold after running his second-best mark of 49.79, finishing .01 short of his personal best. The Lubbock native ran the top prelim time of 50.90 on Saturday and finished Sunday's final ahead of Texas A&M's Nick Robinson who ran a time of 50.63.
Earning his fourth Big 12 title was senior hurdler Odom, as he took the gold in the men's 110M hurdles. The three-time All-American is the first Big 12 male to win three-consecutive 110M hurdle titles. Odom championed the 2007 event with a run of 13.78, defeating Sheldon Leith of Oklahoma who clocked a time of 13.93. The product of Killeen, Texas, won the 2005 event with a time of 13.76 and in 2006 after running a mark of 13.74.
Also scoring for Tech in the men's 110M hurdles was freshman Omo Osaghae and sophomore Jansen Hyde. Osaghae ran a personal best time of 13.99 to place fourth and tally five Red Raider points. His previous best mark was 14.04 from the preliminary heat on Saturday. Hyde finished in the seventh position with a run of 14.17, his second best career mark. The trio of Odom-Osaghae-Hyde had a one-three-six finish indoor to pair with the outdoor finish of one-four-seven.
The Red Raider men had three pole vaulters finish in scoring position, including two notching personal best clearances. Senior Chris Ashcraft took the bronze medal after earning an eight-inch personal best, clearing 17'-6.5". The Albuquerque, N.M., native previously cleared 16'-10.75" as a top height at both the 2005 Big 12 Championships and TCU Invitational.
Seth Harris finished in a tie for fourth to earn 4.5 points for Tech after also clearing 17'-6.5". The senior from Boyd, Texas, marks a personal best by two inches, as he finished with 17'-4.5" at the NCAA Championships in 2005, when he earned All-America status. Both Red Raiders sit with the fifth best height in the nation, while Kansas freshman Jordan Scott ended at a height of 18'-2.5" to earn the top mark in the country.
Also scoring in the men's pole vault was freshman Brian Porter, finishing in a tie for eighth. Porter of Maypearl, Texas, had his fifth regional clearance when he ended at a height of 16'-6.75". The freshman Red Raider took fifth at the indoor meet with a mark of 16'-7.5".
Adding a bronze to his gold from the first day of the championships, Kevin Chelimo placed third in the men's 5000M. The senior Red Raider ran a time of 14:30.93 to earn six points to the team total and finish behind two Colorado Buffaloes. Chelimo titled the 10000M on Friday after pacing the field with a mark of 30:34.43.
Michael Cast earned a second bronze for the men's team as he finished behind teammate Robinson and Kansas' Hugh Murphy in the javelin. Junior Cast threw for 201'-11" to earn his first all-conference honors.
The men's 4x100M relay notched its first regional-qualifying time during Sunday's race. The squad of Odom, Hyde, Ryan Adkins and Ricky Norris ran a mark of 40.49 to take fifth. The relay consisting of the same members previously had a top time of 40.95 this season at the Texas Tech Open.
Adding a second medal at the championships was freshman Anthony Flemons, as he competed in the men's triple jump on Sunday. Flemons, who had the fifth best mark coming into the meet, placed fourth with a distance of 51'-8.5". The product of Childress, Texas, placed eighth in the long jump on Saturday, while finishing sixth in the triple and seventh in the long during the indoor season.
The men closed the meet with a fourth-place finish in the 4x400M relay. Rodney Mims, Scott, Glavash and Tim Foster ran a time of 3:08.91.
Additional women scoring include a fifth-place finish by Louise Cox in the 400M. The junior from Converse, Texas, ran a time of 54.61, her third regional mark of the year. In her previous two outdoor conference meets, Cox finished 11th, failing to qualify for the finals in the event. In the 800M, Asia Diaz took seventh with a run of 2:13.37. The Red Raider sophomore took fifth at the indoor event with a run of 2:11.99.
In the 100M hurdles, sophomore Tori Smith finished seventh after clocking a time of 13.95. She ran a personal-best tying time of 13.86 in the prelims on Saturday. For the 400M hurdles, Tech saw points earned by freshman Sandra Iwunze. The Houston, Texas, native ran a mark of 1:03.13 to finish seventh. Senior Katie Leonard ran a career best time in the 3000M steeplechase as she placed eighth with a run of 10:45.84.
Despite missing all-conference honors, sophomore John Means of Van Horn, Texas, notched a personal best in the 3000M steeplechase by nearly three seconds. Means ran a time of 9:55.28 to place 14th, besting his previous best of 9:55.28 at the TCU Invitational.
Earning team titles were the Oklahoma Sooners on the men's side and earning the title to win both the indoor and outdoor championships for the women was Texas A&M. The Sooners had 110.5 points, with Tech in second with 100 and Texas taking third with 96. For the women, the Aggies tallied 140 points, host Nebraska took second with 117 and Texas earning third with 89, two points ahead of the Red Raider women.
Players Mentioned
