Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Drake Relays
Red Raiders Wrap Up Successful Weekend At Drake And WTAMU
April 26, 2015 | Track and Field
Kole Weldon won all three of his throwing events this weekend, including breaking his own hammer throw school record.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Texas Tech track & field collected 12 event titles to wrap up a great weekend of competition at the Drake Relays and West Texas A&M Twilight, on Saturday.
Leading the way for the No. 10 Red Raiders was JaCorian Duffield, who cleared 2.25m/7-4.5 to win the Drake Relays University high jump. Duffield is undefeated in the high jump during the 2015 outdoor season, and has not lost in the high jump since the indoor Tyson Invitational on Feb. 14. His clearance was the best winning jump the event has seen since 1988.
Bradley Adkins (2.22m/7-3.25) placed second, and Trey Culver (2.13m/6-11.75) took fifth.
In Canyon, Kole Weldon put together another dominant performance in the throws. Weldon won the hammer with a school record-breaking throw of 62.06m/203-7. It marks the second time this season that Weldon has broken his own hammer throw record, and the 21st time since the start of the indoor season that a Tech record has fallen. Weldon also threw the discus 56.29m/184-8 to win that event, and had a launch of 18.09m/59-4.25 to win the shot put.
Hannah Carson also put together a huge weekend in the throws for the No. 18 Lady Raiders, winning the shot put with a facility-record toss of 15.07m/49-5.5, and taking the discus title (48.68m/159-8). She also broke the facility record in her signature event, the javelin, with a toss of 52.01m/170-7.
On the women's side in Des Moines, Cierra White took the title on the 100 meters, running an 11.43 despite the cold weather and poor sprinting conditions.
"It was great to get two victories at a prestigious meet like the Drake Relays," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "JaCorian [Duffield] and Cierra [White] put on great performances for us. Then, out at the WTAMU Open, what can I say about our throwers? Kole [Weldon] and Hannah [Carson] were outstanding once again, as they have been all season. I'm really pleased with the consistency we have shown as we move closer to the postseason."
In the Drake men's 4 x 400 relay, Kareem McBride, Kyle Collins, C.J. Jones and Steven Champlin earned fourth place, with a time of 3:07.75.
Darien Tennon (52.31) and JW Smith (52.35) finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively, in the finals of the 400 meter hurdles in Des Moines, and the distance medley relay of Nick Rivera, Kendall McVey, McBride and Evans Tuitoek place seventh, running a 9:48.44. Viershanie Latham took ninth in the triple jump, with her best leap traveling 12.14m/39-10.0.
Amani Nesmith won the women's long jump at the WTAMU Twilight, with a wind-legal collegiate-best leap of 5.76m/18-10.75, and Bailey Blunt took the title in the pole vault, clearing 3.35m/10-11.75.
Alexis Lewis (48.51m/159-2) took the women's hammer throw title in Canyon, and Miguel Bautista ran a collegiate-best 3:57.78 to win the men's 1,500 meters.
Texas Tech track & field returns home next Thursday, April 30, for the final regular-season meet of the 2015 outdoor season, the Red Raider Open, at the Fuller Track & Field Complex.
Players Mentioned
