Richards III Runs Away With Big 12 Honor
April 15, 2015 | Track and Field
Indoor All-American Joseph Richards III took Tech's eighth Big 12 weekly honor of 2015 after winning the 400 meters at the Wes Kittley Invitational.
IRVING, Texas --Â Texas Tech's Joseph Richards III has been named the Big 12 Male Track & Field Athlete of the Week this afternoon, after running the No. 5 400 meter time in the nation at this weekend's Wes Kittley Invitational.
Richards III won the 400 meters in Abilene on Saturday, running a blazing 45.61 to edge out fellow All-American 4 x 400 relay teammates Steven Champlin and Kyle Collins. Richards' personal-best run is the ninth-fastest mark in Texas Tech history, and currently ranks No. 1 in the Big 12 and No. 5 in the nation. Richards was also part of Tech's 4 x 100 meter relay, which clocked a 40.50 to give Richards his second event win of the day.
Texas Tech has had an athlete win this honor in each week of the 2015 outdoor season so far.
This is the fourth-straight Big 12 Athlete of the Week award for the Red Raiders, after Hannah Carson won the award last week, Â JaCorian Duffield won the week before her, and Chris Caldwell took the honor the week before that. This is the first time Richards III has won this award, indoors or outdoors.
The last time a school was responsible for four-consecutive outdoor Big 12 Athlete of the Week Awards was in 2008, when Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego won on April 22, D'Andra Carter was honored on April 29, Kipyego was the recipient again on May 6 and Tech earned a sweep on May 13, between Patience Knight and Shawon Harris. Â
This is the eighth combined Big 12 weekly award between the indoor and outdoor seasons Texas Tech has won in 2015. The previous program high for a single season was five. Six different Tech athletes have won the award this year.
The No. 9 Red Raiders and No. 15 Lady Raiders will be in action this Saturday, April 18, at the Michael Johnson Classic, which will be held in Waco, Texas.
TEXAS TECH 2015 BIG 12 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Jan. 21 -- Le'Tristan Pledger (Indoor)
Jan. 28 -- Cierra White & JaCorian Duffield (Indoor)
Feb. 11 -- Cierra White (Indoor)
March 25 -- Chris Caldwell (Outdoor)
April 1 -- JaCorian Duffield (Outdoor)
April 8 -- Hannah Carson (Outdoor)
April 15 -- Joseph Richards III (Outdoor)
Players Mentioned
