TRACK TRAVELLING TO WACO AND CALIFORNIA FOR MEETS

TRACK TRAVELLING TO WACO AND CALIFORNIA FOR MEETS

April 16, 2009 | Track and Field

April 16, 2009

LUBBOCK, Texas -

The No. 14 Lady Raiders and No. 24 Red Raiders track programs are headed to Waco, Texas for the Michael Johnson Classic and Walnut, Calif., for the MT. Sac Relays.

Tech will send a select few to MT. Sac as some jumpers and distance runners will be apart of the festivities. Lillian Badaru, Asia Diaz, Michelle Guzman, Amanda Alley, Waylon Randolph, Darrell Roddick are all headed to compete.The distance races will be some of the toughest seen this year by the Lady Raiders.

A total of 18 schools will be competing at the Michael Johnson Classic being held in Waco, Texas. Baylor's men and women should provide some stiff competition as both squads are ranked 10th in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings. The men and women are both looking to earn numerous NCAA Regional marks this weekend.

Competition at the Michael Johnson Classic begins on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the javelin and the running events start at 12 p.m. with preliminaries of the 100M hurdles. The MT. Sac Relay participants start competing tomorrow at 10:50 a.m. (PST) with the 1500M. Live results of both meets can be found at www.baylorbears.com and http://relays.mtsac.edu.

Last Week

The Texas Tech Open had a late start but the Tech was still able to collect 16 NCAA Regional marks. Omo Osaghae set a new school record in the 110M hurdles with a 13.51. He broke Marlon Odom's record set in 2007. The women's 4x100M relay of Jonisha Boleware, Terra Evans, Tori Smith and Trudeann Clarke ran a regional time of 44.89 placing second. Anthony Flemons (24'-6.50") and Waylon Randolph (24'-1.75") both qualified for the NCAA Regional meet in the long jump. Asia Diaz ran a NCAA Regional time of 2:09.83 in the 800M and Sandra Iwunze ran her first 400M hurdle regional time of 59.93. Lillian Badaru ran a 4:28.69 to qualify in the 1500M and Tori Smith is going in the 100M hurdles with a time of 13.86. Trudeann Clarke ran a 54.40 in the 400M to make the regional meet as did Gil Roberts (21.02) and Osaghae (21.26) in the 200M.

USTFCCCA Rankings

The Texas Tech men's and women's track squad both stayed in the USTFCCCA rankings compiled by Tom Lewis. The Red Raiders are No. 24 this week. The men are the fifth-ranked Big 12 school. The Lady Raiders stayed at No. 14 this week. Tech is the fourth ranked Big 12 school on the women's side.

National Leaders

D'Andra Carter and Omo Osaghae are both leading the nation in their respective events. Carter's throw of 181'-03" won her the Texas Relays title for the second-straight year and has put her at the top of the NCAA descending list. Osaghae's 13.42 is .13 faster than anybody in the nation. He finished second in the 60M hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

Top 10 Throwers

All three of the women throwers in the discus, hammer and shot put are ranked in the 10 of the nation. D'Andra Carter is ranked first in the discus. Patience Knight is currently fifth in the shot put and Ozie Okolie is seventh in the hammer. Arizona State is the only other school in the nation that can claim the same feat.

National Rank

200M Gil Roberts 30th 200M Omo Osaghae 62nd 400M Rodney Mims 34th 3K SC Gilbert Limo 25th 110M H Omo Osaghae 1st 110M H Jamele Mason 42nd 400M H Jamele Mason 20th 4x400M Men 10th HJ Darrell Roddick 25th LJ Anthony Flemons 24th LJ Waylon Randolph 41st TJ Darrell Roddick 14th SP Harrison Benjamin 30th DT Brett McDaniel 57th 100M Terra Evans 16th 400M Trudeann Clarke 41st 800M Asia Diaz 51st 1500M Lillian Badaru 41st 100M H Tori Smith 61st 400M H Sandra Iwunze 42nd 4x100m Women 21st 4x400M Women 32nd HJ Kelsey Lloyd 25th PV Amanda Alley 22nd PV Sage Lasater 72nd SP Patience Knight 5th SP D'Andra Carter 43rd DT D'Andra Carter 1st DT Patience Knight 26th HT Ozie Okolie 7th

Two Weeks in a Row

Patience Knight was named the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Week for her performance at the ACU Invitational. She won both the shot put and discus at the met with NCAA Regional marks. She threw 164'-06" and 53'-11.25". It is the second-straight week a Texas Tech athlete has won the athlete of the week award from the Big 12.

Freshman Debut

Freshman Jamele Mason, in only two meets so far during the outdoor season has regionally qualified for two events. At the TCU Invitational he ran a 14.23 to qualify in the 110M hurdles and he turns around a week later to run a 52.22 to qualify in the 400M hurdles.

Female Athlete of Week

D'Andra Carter, the two-time All-American won the discus throw with a NCAA Regional mark of 172'-11" and is the second-best in the nation currently. Carter followed it up by placing third in the shot put with throw of 49'-6.5". Her shot put marks qualifies for the NCAA Regional meet as well.

An Amazing Career

Senior Sally Kipyego ended her career at the NCAA Indoor Championships becoming only the second female in NCAA Division I track & field history to win nine NCAA titles. She tied Suzy Favor as she won her third-straight 5,000M title which no other female has done.

Program Best Finishes

The Texas Tech track & field program had its best NCAA Indoor Championship in history. The women finished in ninth with 21 points. It is the highest finish and most points scored in the program's history. The men made history as they finished in 13th place with 18 points.

Another Level

Sally Kipyego became the first female in NCAA Division I history to win three NCAA Division I Indoor 5,000M titles.

All-Americans

Tech earned nine All-American honors this past week at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Sally Kipyego earned her 11th and 12th All-American honor in her illustrious career. Gil Roberts earned his second and third All-American award in the 400M and 4x400M relay. Tim Foster and Rodney Mims both earned their second award in the 4x400M relay. Patience Knight earned her second as well in the shot put. Omo Osaghae earned his first indoor and second All-American honor overall. Markus Henderson collected his first All-American honor in the 4x400M relay.

Star Studded Returners

Texas Tech has a total of eight All-Americans returning for the 2009 season. The group is highlighted by eight-time NCAA champion Sally Kipyego. Two-time All-American throwers Patience Knight and D'Andra Carter are the other women retuning. The men have Anthony Flemons, Tim Foster, Rodney Mims, Omo Osaghae and Gil Roberts.

Newcomers

Tech has 27 newcomers for the season. The men boast the fifth-best recruiting class in the nation by Track and Field News and the class is highlighted by Markus Henderson, Jamele Mason and Brandon Tucker. The women have a strong group of freshmen and transfers. Lillian Badaru has already made a name for herself as she earned her first All-American honor in cross country last fall.

New Additions

The Texas Tech track program added a new face as Roy Williams, a former TCU All-American, was hired to coach sprints and relays. Williams spent the last three years at the University of Texas at Arlington as the associate head coach of sprints, relays, jumps and hurdles. He coached an Olympic qualifier in the 200M and 4x100M relay and an All-American in the 110M hurdles during his tenure.

10-Year Anniversary

This season marks the 10th year that head coach Wes Kittley has been with the Texas Tech track & field program. Since then his program has had nine NCAA champions and 97 All-American honors.