Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Splits Squad Between Tyson Invite & ISU Classic
February 12, 2015 | Track and Field
Feb. 12, 2015
The Tyson Invitational is a world-renowned meet, featuring some of the best collegiate athletes in the country. Tech will face off with Florida, LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Texas, Clemson and Florida State, among others.
"This is going to be like a mini national championship," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "We are going to get a good sense of where we are in a lot of events on the national scale. It will be great competition for our kids, and it will just be an exciting weekend overall for fans of track & field."
On Friday, events in Fayetteville get started at 1 p.m., and events begin at noon on Saturday. Saturday's events will be broadcast live on SEC network+ (WatchESPN).
The Red Raiders are sending four distance runners to the Iowa State Classic, as the meet in Ames is known more for its distance prowess than the Tyson Invite. Running events begin in Ames at noon on Friday and 9:30 a.m., on Saturday. Flotrack will broadcast the ISU Classic to paid subscribers.
Out of the Blocks
? The Randal Tyson Center, host of the Tyson Invite, will also be the site for the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, March 13-14.
? The Red Raiders combined to break three more school records last weekend, giving them a total of nine for the season, meaning they are averaging more than two broken school records per meet in 2015.
? Texas Tech has claimed four of the possible eight Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors in 2015, the most of any school in the conference, and has had at least one Big 12 Athlete of the Week in three of the four weeks in which it has been awarded.
? Following her record-breaking weekend at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic, Texas Tech senior Cierra White has been named the Big 12 Indoor Female Co-Athlete of the Week. White broke two of her own school records in Albuquerque. Last Friday, she ran a 22.98 in the 200 meters, which was not just a school record and national-leading time, but a world-leading time as well. She followed that up on Saturday by running a school-record 7.22 in the 60 meter dash, which places her at No. 6 in the NCAA. She also ran on Tech's 4 x 400m relay, which won the event with a time of 3:37.03, ranking 17th in the nation. White also won this award on Jan. 28, making her the first female athlete to win this award twice in the same indoor season since 2013. She is the first Lady Raider to do so since Sally Kipyego accomplished the feat in 2007.
? The men's and women's teams each have nine athletes and one relay ranked (national top 50) over nine different events, giving the teams a combined 18 ranked athletes. Nine of those athletes and one relay are currently in position to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. The top 16 athletes in each event, along with the top 12 relays in each relay event will make the cut.
? The Texas Tech men's and women's track & field teams remained ranked in the U.S Track & Field And Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) computer rankings this week, checking in at No. 14 and No. 12, respectively. The Lady Raiders' jump from 18th to 12th was the highest leap of any women's team in the nation.
Who's Got Next?
Texas Tech will split the squad again next weekend, with some staying home as Tech hosts the annual Red Raider Open on Feb. 20, and the rest will head to South Bend, Ind., for the Notre Dame Invitational, on Feb. 21.
Aiming For Arkansas
The top 16 individuals and top 12 relays in each event qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, in Fayetteville, Ark. Texas Tech currently has a combined nine individuals and one relay in position to qualify, with another eight athletes and one relay within 12 spots of qualification.
Making History
Texas Tech has already had six individuals combine to break six school records this season, with two of those, the men's high jump and the women's 200m dash, having been broken twice already this season. The Red Raiders had seven athletes break school records in the entirety of the 2014 season.
Last Year At The Tyson Invite
As she has done so often in the past, Lady Raider sprinter Cierra White helped to jumpstart the Texas Tech track and field program early Saturday in the final day of competition at the 2014 Tyson Invitational.
Competing in the very first race of the afternoon, White edged out Brittany Brown from Iowa on the final straightaway of the Randal Tyson track to capture the opening heat of the 200-meter dash with a career-best time of 23.43 seconds. The performance marked the second-fastest 200-meter dash in school history. It also jumped her into the Big 12 lead in the event, and the top-10 nationally.
Later on the track, she helped the Lady Raider 4x400 relay team to a second place finish in a fiercely competitive field. The relay squad, comprised of Christen Rivers, White, Amoy Blake and Montenae Speight, crossed the line with a time of 3:34.15 - which ranks as the fourth-fastest in school history. The Lady Raiders have now clocked a top-5 time in school history in back-to-back meets as they recorded a season-best of 3:34.08 at the New Mexico Classic last weekend.
That time entered the Tyson Invitational at No. 5 on the IAAF World Rankings for the 2014 indoor season.
Last Time Out
Cierra White ran the world's fastest women's 200 meter dash this season to lead the No. 14 men's and No. 18 women's Texas Tech track and field teams on day one of the New Mexico Collegiate Classic, on Friday, in Albuquerque, N.M.
White's time of 22.98 broke her own school record she set just two weeks ago, and vaulted her to No. 1 in both the nation and the world. She is the only female in the world to run the 200 meters in under 23 seconds this season.
Tech picked up huge performances from Trevor Mackey and Joseph Richards III in the 200 meter dash. Mackey (21.16) and Richards III (21.21) secured third and fifth in the event setting new personal-best marks in the process. Mackey's time is tied for No. 18 in the NCAA and ranks 10th in program history. Richards' performance ranks 27th nationally.
White continued her tear in New Mexico by running the 60 meter dash in 7.22, breaking her own school record and recording the No. 5 time in the nation.
In the women's triple jump, Gionna Jackson (12.81m/42-00.50), Paetyn Revell (12.74m/41-09.75) and Viershanie Latham (12.71m/41-08.50) all eclipsed the existing Tech school record, but is Jackson who will have the record, taking second place. Jackson's mark ranks 17th in the NCAA.
In the 4 x 400 meter relay, Steven Champlin, Charles Jones, Joseph Richards III and Kyle Collins combined to finish in a season-best 3:07.72, which places them at No. 5 in the country, and won the event.
Program Notables
? Tech has had nine individual first or second team indoor All-Americans in the past two years.
? The Red Raiders return six athletes who scored at least eight points at the 2014 Big 12 Indoor Championships.
? In 2014, seven Texas Tech track & field athletes were able to break school records.
? In 2015, Texas Tech returns six athletes, who at some points in their careers, have earned first team All-American indoor status.
? The Tech men's 2014 Big 12 outdoor team title was the fifth team title between the track & field and cross country programs since 1999.
Players Mentioned
