Texas Tech Travels To Drake Relays For First Time
April 23, 2015 | Track and Field
C.J. Jones and the Red Raider 4 x 400 meter relay has its sights set on a title at this weekend's Drake Relays.
April 23, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The No. 10 men's and No. 18 women's Texas Tech track & field teams will compete at the historic Drake Relays for the first time, this weekend, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Those athletes not headed to Iowa will go to the West Texas A&M Twilight Open, this Saturday.
The 106th Drake Relays have already started, but the Red Raiders won't begin competing until tomorrow. Many professional track & field athletes are entered at the Drake Relays, giving collegiate athletes a unique opportunity from a competition standpoint.
"We're really excited to head to Drake for the first time," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "It was one of those things where they sought us out and really wanted us to go there. This will be a great opportunity for our athletes to go up against some of the best the world has to offer. This is one of those opportunities that tends to be unique to track & field. I can tell the kids are really excited to get started."
The Red Raiders will be highlighted by its jumpers and relays this weekend. JaCorian Duffield and Bradley Adkins, with their regional marks out of the way, will look to continue to fine tune and improve before the postseason.
Tech's men's 4 x 400 meter relay is scheduled to compete for the first time since throwing down a 3:03.47 at the Texas Relays, a month ago.
The Lady Raiders will take their 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays to Des Moines this weekend, both of which rank in the nation's top 25.
Tech has had great success at the West Texas A&M Twilight meet, and looks to continue that in 2015.
Kole Weldon will compete in Canyon, where he will look to repeat his outing in 2014, which consisted of event wins in the shot put, discus and hammer throw.
Action in Des Moines will begin tomorrow, with running events getting underway at 8 a.m., and field events starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday will feature another early start in Des Moines (8 a.m.). In Canyon, field events will start at noon, and running events will get going at 4:45 p.m.
Out of the Blocks
- Texas Tech's men's (No. 10) and women's (No. 18) track and field teams have each been ranked in the top 20 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 20.
- This will be the first time Texas Tech has competed at the Drake Relays, after consistently using this weekend to travel to the Penn Relays.
- As of today, Texas Tech is in position to earn 46 men's and women's entries for the 2015 NCAA West Preliminary Round, in Austin, Texas. Through a qualifying finish at that meet is the only way an athlete can gain entry to the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships, in Eugene, Ore.
- Texas Tech currently has 24 men and women and four relays ranked in the nation's top 50 in their respective events. The teams also combine to have the Big 12's top mark in eight different events.
- The Red Raiders and Lady Raiders currently combine to have eight 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 returns home to the Fuller Track & Field Complex next Thursday, April 30, for the Red Raider Open, which will be Tech's final regular season meet of 2015.
Sights Set On Austin
The outdoor qualifying process differs a little bit from the one used for the indoor season. The top 48athletes 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 WTAMU Twilight
Texas Tech track and field athletes set facility records in five events Saturday at the West Texas A&M Classic as the No. 10 Red Raiders and No. 17 Lady Raiders competed at the third-annual meet in Canyon.
The Red Raiders and Lady Raiders set new West Texas A&M Track and Field Complex standards in each the women's pole vault, and javelin along with the men's 1,500-meters, pole vault and shot put. The meet marked the final in a string of three consecutive road trips, which included a trip to the 120th Penn Relays this weekend for a crop of Tech athletes.
Highlighting action for the No. 17 Lady Raiders was a trio of first place finishes and facility record performances out of Haley Cook, Reece Timmons and Blake Wood in the pole vault - all three of which cleared 3.87-meters (12'-8.25"). The clearances marked career-bests for both Timmons and Wood while matching Cook's career-best from the 2013 UTEP Springtime Invitational.
In the men's field events, Kyle Thompson set a new facility record in the pole vault where he cleared 5.07-meters (16'-7.25") to win the event. He's cleared a season-best of 17'-1.50".
Meanwhile, junior Red Raider All-American Kole Weldon swept the men's shot put, discus and hammer throw. He won the shot put with a facility record throw of 16.69-meters (54'-9.25"), the discus with a throw of 55.11m (180'-9") and the hammer with a heave of 56.08 (184'-0").
Teammate JaCorian Duffield also turned in a strong performance for the Red Raiders winning the men's high jump with a clearance of 2.20-meters (7'-2.50"). He was followed by teammates Bradley Adkins in second (2.08/6'-9.75") and Dayton Fisher in third (2.03/6'-8.00").
Last Time Out
Texas Tech's JaCorian Duffield and Bradley Adkins went 1-2 in the men's high jump to lead the men's and women's track and field teams at Saturday's Michael Johnson Classic, in Waco, Texas.
A cancellation due to inclement weather cut the meet short for the Red Raiders, as they didn't get to finish events such as the pole vault, 200 meter dash and 4 x 400 meter relay, among others.
Duffield and Adkins both had a best clearance of 2.20m/7-2.5 for the No. 9 Red Raiders in front of 2,655 at the Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium, but Duffield won on fewest attempts. Duffield has not been beaten in the high jump since the indoor Tyson Invitational back on Feb. 14. His last four wins have come at the Big 12 and NCAA Indoor Championships, the Texas Relays and today's Michael Johnson Classic.
Leading the way for the No. 15 Lady Raiders was Montenae Speight, who took fifth in a loaded evening section in the 400 meters, running a personal-best 52.21. That time ranks eighth in the NCAA.
In the women's pole vault, at the time of the delay, Reece Timmons was in eighth place, having cleared a personal-best height of 4.00m/13-1.50.
C.J. Jones ran a collegiate-best 1:50.87 in the evening section of the men's 800 meters to place fourth, and Kelly McQuaid ran a personal-best 2:12.98 to take third on the women's side.
Keeping A Watchful Eye
Texas Tech high jumper JaCorian Duffield is receiving votes in the April edition of the Bowerman Trophy Watch List, as announced by the U.S Track & Field And Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation.
Duffield swept both the Big 12 and NCAA Indoor high jump championships earlier this year, clearing what was a personal-best 2.29m/7-6.0 at the time to claim the national title over teammate Bradley Adkins and become the third indoor NCAA Champion in Texas Tech history.
At the next meet in which he competed, the Texas Relays, Duffield started his outdoor season with a bang, clearing a personal-best and school-record 2.31m/7-7.0, which at the time was the No. 1 jump in the world, and is still currently the top mark in the NCAA.
Big Time Big 12 Athletes
After Joseph Richards III's Big 12 Athlete of the Week win last week, a Tech athlete has won the honor in four of the five weeks of the 2015 outdoor season so far.
Before this week, Tech had won four-straight Big 12 Athlete of the Week awards. Hannah Carson won the award two weeks ago, JaCorian Duffield won the week before her, and Chris Caldwell took the honor the week before that.
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. Six different Tech athletes have won the award in 2015.
Players Mentioned
