Tech Showcasing Talents at Penn Relays and Oklahoma Invitational

Tech Showcasing Talents at Penn Relays and Oklahoma Invitational

April 22, 2009 | Track and Field

April 22, 2009

LUBBOCK, Texas -

The No. 17 Lady Raiders and No. 19 Red Raiders will have split squads this weekend as some will be in Philadelphia, Penn., for the Penn Relays and others will be in Norman, Okla., for the Oklahoma Invitational.

Tech begins competes at the Penn Relays starting on Thursday as the Lady Raiders will run the 400M hurdles and 4x400M relay. Sandra Iwunze has improved on her 400M hurdles time in the last few weeks, running a season-best time of 59.47.

The Red Raiders start competition at the Penn Relays on Friday with the men's 400M hurdles. The men will look to compete in the men's shuttle hurdle relay on Friday with the combination of Nathan Lowry, Brandon Tucker, Jamele Mason and Omo Osaghae.

The field event competitors and other runners will travel to Oklahoma for a meet on Saturday. The competition begins on Friday with the hammer throw and continues on Saturday at 11 a.m. with the javelin. D'Andra Carter (discus), Patience Knight (shot put), Waylon Randolph (long jump) and Darrell Roddick (triple jump) all improved on their previous marks this past weekend.

Live results of the Penn Relays can be seen at www.thepennrelays.com and the Oklahoma Invitational live results can be found at www.soonersports.com.

Last Week

The weekend was a good one for Tech as the squads racked up 18 NCAA Regional qualifying marks and a new school record. The men's 4x440Y relay of Rodney Mims, Gil Roberts, Brandon Washington and Lamont Adams set a new school record with a time of 3:06.63. Roberts prior to the relay ran the fastest time in the 400M in NCAA Division I this season with a 45.27. The following athletes qualified or improved on NCAA Regional marks: Roberts (400M), Tori Smith (110M hurdles), Sandra Iwunze (400M H), Mims (400M), 4x100M (men), 4x440M (men), Justin Turner (high jump), Patience Knight (shot put), D'Andra Carter (discus), Waylon Randolph (long jump), Roddick (triple jump), Asia Diaz (1500M) and Lillian Badaru (5000M).

Big 12 Championships

The Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held at the Bob Fuller Sports Complex on the newly renovated Linda & Terry Fuller Track. The newly renovated track has a brand new Mondo Super-X surface on it, which is the same surface at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Sprint lanes, pole vault pits and long and triple jump pits have been put in the middle of the track as well as a fence and walkway around the entire track. The walkway will allow fans to see action from anywhere around the complex. The Big 12 Championships will begin on Fri., May 15th and conclude on Sun., May 17th. Call 742-TECH for more ticket information about the Big 12 Championships.

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. 19 this week moving up five spots from last week. The men are the fifth-ranked Big 12 school. The Lady Raiders dropped three spots to No. 17 this week. Tech is the fourth ranked Big 12 school on the women's side.

National Leaders

Gil Roberts and Omo Osaghae are both leading the nation in their respective events. Roberts ran the nation's leading time of 45.27 at the Michael Johnson Classic this past week. His time is currently the third-fastest in the world as well. 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 third 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 46th 200M Omo Osaghae 85th 400M Gil Roberts 1st 400M Rodney Mims 45th 3K SC Gilbert Limo 32nd 110M H Omo Osaghae 1st 110M H Jamele Mason 54th 400M H Jamele Mason 21st 4x100M Men 29th 4x400M Men 12th HJ Justin Turner 28th HJ Darrell Roddick 28th LJ Anthony Flemons 36th LJ Waylon Randolph 38th TJ Darrell Roddick 12th SP Harrison Benjamin 34th DT Brett McDaniel 66th 100M Terra Evans 18th 400M Trudeann Clarke 49th 800M Asia Diaz 73rd 1500M Asia Diaz 38th 1500M Lillian Badaru 63rd 5000M Lillian Badaru 51st 100M H Tori Smith 60th 400M H Sandra Iwunze 27th 4x100m Women 19th 4x400M Women 39th HJ Kelsey Lloyd 51st PV Amanda Alley 30th PV Sage Lasater 88th SP Patience Knight 5th SP D'Andra Carter 45th DT D'Andra Carter 3rd DT Patience Knight 31st 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.