Tech Track & Field Prepares For Wes Kittley Invite
April 10, 2015 | Track and Field
Kyle Collins and the No. 10 Red Raiders will compete at the ACU Wes Kittley Invitational this weekend.
LUBBOCK, Texas --Â The No. 10 men's and No. 14 women's Texas Tech track & field teams will travel to Abilene, Texas, for the second-annual Wes Kittley Invitational, on Saturday, April 11.
The field events will begin on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., and the running events will get started at 4:30 p.m.
"I'm so honored and humbled that Abilene Christian has named this meet after me," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "It's always great to go back and compete there. I really want us to do well, especially because we're going to a place where I had some great national champion teams. This is also another great chance for us to pick up some regional qualifying marks and prepare for the postseason."
During his time at Abilene Christian, Kittley won an unprecedented 29 national track and field championships, the most in Divisions I and II combined. His total is only three short of the all-time record held by Division III Kenyon College swimming and diving coach Jim Steen. Kittley won his first national championship in 1985 when his women's Wildcat squad won the Division II outdoor championship, a title he would win again in `86, `87 and `88. When ACU combined their programs in 1993, Kittley was selected to head the men's team, as well. He wasted no time taking a floundering men's program to an elite level, winning the Division II indoor title in his first season. His 15-year tenure at ACU included coaching 10 Olympic qualifiers, three Pan-American Games athletes, five World University Games athletes, 16 athletes who have qualified for the world championships and three United States national champions.
The Red Raiders are coming off a dominant weekend at the Texas Tech Open, headlined by wins in 15 different events, including Kole Weldon breaking the Tech school record in the hammer throw.
Hannah Carson won three different events, and was named the Big 12 Female Athlete of the Week.
Out of the Blocks
· Texas Tech's men's (No. 10) and women's (No. 14) track and field teams have each been ranked in the top 15 for the duration of the outdoor season so far. Tech is one of four Big 12 squads to have both the men's and women's teams ranked in the USTFCCCA top 15.
· Texas Tech's Hannah Carson won Tech's seventh overall Big 12 Athlete of the Week award of 2015, after winning three different throwing events at last weekend's Texas Tech Open. This is the third-straight week in which Tech has won a Big 12 Athlete of the Week award, after JaCorian Duffield won it on the men's side a week ago, and Chris Caldwell took the honor the week before that. This is Carson's first Big 12 Athlete of the Week award of her career.
· Through two weekends of competition, Texas Tech currently has 24 men and women and four relays ranked in the nation's top 50 in their respective events.
· The Red Raiders and Lady Raiders currently combine to have nine marks ranking in the nation's top five in their respective events.
· Texas Tech is looking to become just the third team in Big 12 history to repeat as outdoor conference champions, following up on their historic 2014 title in Lubbock.
Who's Got Next?
Texas Tech track & field travels to Waco, Texas, next weekend to compete at the Michael Johnson Classic, which will be held April 18.
Sights Set On Austin
The outdoor qualifying process differs a little bit from the one used for the indoor season. The top 48
athletes and top 24 relays in each event in the west region will advance to the NCAA West Preliminary Round, in Austin, Texas, May 28-30. From there, the top 12 athletes in each event from each region will advance to the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships, in Eugene, Ore.
Making History
Texas Tech has already had seven individuals combine to break 11 different school records this season, with many of those having been broken twice already. Overall, Tech school records have been broken 20 times in 2015.
Last Year At The Wes Kittley Invite
Lighting up the track early for the Red Raiders, Trevor Mackey turned in fast performances in both the 100 and 200-meter races. Mackey clocked the fastest wind-aided 200-meter time in program history crossing the finish line in just 20.47 seconds. Earlier the South Plains transfer finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.29 - marking the No. 10 wind-aided performance in school history.
In Saturday's field events, the Lady Raider horizontal jumpers turned in another strong week of performances led by Gionna Jackson. One week after securing a career-best mark in the triple jump at the Texas Tech Open, Jackson let loose a career-best effort in the long jump. Jackson went 5.98-meters (19'-7.50") in legal wind to finish second in the competition. She then improved upon her mark from last week in the triple jump going 12.63-meters (41'-5.25") with a 3.4 m/s tailwind. The leap marked the fourth-best wind-aided jump in school history.
In the women's throws, Hannah Carson earned first place finishes in both the shot put and discus where she recorded collegiate-best marks in both events.
One week after breaking her own facility record in the javelin, Carson let loose a heave of 14.64-meters (48'-0.50") in the shot put before closing the meet with a toss of 54.90-meters (180'-1") in the discus. Her mark in the discus ranks in the Top-8 on the current NCAA West qualifying list and was the best by a Lady Raider since school record holder and NCAA National Champion D'Andra Carter in 2009. She entered the meet with the No. 2 mark in the javelin.
Last Time Out
Texas Tech's Kole Weldon won the hammer throw, breaking the school record in the process, on day one of the Texas Tech Open, in Lubbock.
Weldon's best throw of the evening, a launch of 61.35m/201-3, broke his own school record by nearly a foot and a half, and was enough to win the event. Weldon showed great consistency, as four of his six throws went at least 192 feet.
Bradley Adkins started Saturday with the first of 15 event wins for the Red Raiders, winning the men's high jump, clearing an outdoor collegiate-best 2.24m/7-4.0, and Viershanie Latham followed that with a second-place finish in the women's long jump (5.68m/18-7.75) and a win in the women's triple jump, leaping a collegiate-best 12.78m/41-11.25.
While that was taking place, Haley Cook won the women's pole vault, breaking the 13-feet barrier in the process. Her clearance of 3.98m/13-0.75 was an outdoor collegiate best. On the men's side, Kyle Thompson completed the event sweep, clearing 5.15m/16-10.75 to win.
On the track, the Tech hurdlers led the way once again. Chris Caldwell won the 110 meter hurdles once again, running a 13.63. He has yet to be defeated in that event this season. Le'Tristan Pledger completed the sweep with a win on the women's side, clocking a 13.16. In the 400 meter variety of the hurdles, JW Smith took the victory, with a time of 52.14, and he was followed by Darien Tennon (52.33), who took second.
Cierra White ran her first 200 meter dash of the outdoor season, and it had a similar feel to a lot of them she has run before--she crossed the finish line first. White's time of 22.94 ranks sixth on the Tech all-conditions, all-time list for the 200 meter dash.
On Top Of The World
Texas Tech is currently responsible for three different marks that rank in top 10 in the world in their respective events. JaCorian Duffield (2.31m/7-7) has the world's No. 2 high jump, The Tech men's 4 x 400m relay (3:03.47) has the No. 4 time in the world and Chris Caldwell has the No. 10 spot on the world list for the 110m hurdles (13.56).
Taking Flight
JaCorian Duffield and Bradley Adkins took first and second place in the men's high jump final at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, in Fayetteville, Ark., on March 14.
The Red Raider duo became the first pair of teammates to go 1-2 at the NCAA Championships in the high jump since 1974, when Oregon State's Mike Fleer and Tom Woods accomplished the feat. There were plenty of twists and turns along the way, as both jumpers had sole possession of first place at least once. When the dust settled, both had cleared a school record 2.29m/7-6.0, and Duffield was the NCAA champ on fewest attempts.
Players Mentioned
