Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Qualify 12 Athletes For NCAA Indoors
March 04, 2015 | Track and Field
JaCorian Duffield will enter the NCAA Indoor Championships with the No. 1 high jump mark in the nation.
March 4, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The No. 10 men's and No. 23 women's Texas Tech track & field teams will send a combined eight athletes and a relay to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, in Fayetteville, Ark., as the official entries were announced Tuesday night.
On the men's side, Big 12 Champion JaCorian Duffield will go as the No. 1 high jumper in the nation (2.28m/7-5.75), and will be joined by teammate Bradley Adkins, who sits at No. 5 (2.25m/7-4.5).
Chris Caldwell, fresh off his Big 12 60 meter hurdles championship, qualified for the NCAA semifinal in his event, with a season-best time of 7.73.
It turns out that Tech's 4 x 400 meter relay's run of 3:07.00 at the Arkansas Open did in fact earn them a spot on the trip. The relay will be run by Kyle Collins, Steven Champlin, C.J. Jones and Joseph Richards III, who missed out on qualifying himself in the 400 meter dash by .03 seconds. Darien Tennon will serve as the relay's alternate.
Kole Weldon will return to Fayetteville to compete in the shot put in the same location where he earned NCAA runner-up honors in the event two years ago.
Keniel Grant's monster leap of 7.86m/25-9.50 at the Arkansas Open, which bettered his personal best by nearly a foot, punched his ticket to nationals in the long jump.
Cierra White leads the way on the women's side after running a school-record 22.98 to win the Big 12 200 meter title. That run easily qualified her in the event, to go along with her qualification in the 60 meter dash.
Shanice Stewart qualified in two events in which she holds the No. 16 national ranking--the long jump (6.30m/20-8.00), and the pentathlon (4,152). She placed third in the Big 12 in both events this weekend in Ames. The top 16 athletes and top 12 relays in each event earn qualification.
Le'Tristan Pledger will represent the Lady Raiders in the 60 meter hurdles, after running a season-best 8.11 to take second at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.
"I am really excited to see how this group will compete at the NCAA Championships," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "I am really hopeful we can have a great meet and earn a top-10 finish on the men's side, which we are more than capable of doing. We can also score well on the women's side if we perform well. This meet will bring out the best in our kids and I'm excited to see that."
The Red Raiders have this week off before traveling to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, March 13-14, at the Randal Tyson Center.
Players Mentioned
