Texas Tech University Athletics
Tech Track & Field Set To Host Regular Season Finale
April 29, 2015 | Track and Field
Cierra White will be one of 18 seniors performing at the Fuller Track & Field Complex for the final time, on Thursday.
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The No. 6 men's and No. 12 women's Texas Tech track & field teams will host their final regular-season meet of 2015, the Red Raider Open, on Thursday, in Lubbock.
"This is a really exciting time for us," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "It was at this meet last year, where everything really started to click for us and we started building momentum. This will be a great day for our seniors, who get to perform in front of the home crowd for the last time. I think there is potential for some outstanding performances at this meet."
The field events will begin at 11 a.m., with the javelin, and the running events will get started at 5 p.m.
This will be the final meet at the Fuller Track & Field Complex for decorated Texas Tech seniors JaCorian Duffield, Cierra White and Kole Weldon, among others. After tomorrow, the next time Texas Tech will compete is at the Big 12 Championships, May 15-17.
Texas Tech enjoyed a successful weekend at the Drake Relays and WTAMU Twilight, compiling 12 events wins, led by JaCorian Duffield and Cierra White, who won the high jump and 100m dash at the Drake Relays, but the throwers stole the show at the WTAMU Twilight Open.
Kole Weldon and Hannah Carson won a combined six throwing events, setting three records in the process. The pair earned Texas Tech's ninth and 10th Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors this year for their exploits.
The Red Raiders also achieved their highest USTFCCCA rankings of the season this week, as the men ascended to No. 6, while the women vaulted six spots to no. 12.
As of today, Nick Rivera and C.J. Jones are slated to compete at one of the nation's premier distance meets, the Payton Jordan Invitational, in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday. Rivera is entered in the 1,500 meters and Jones is entered in the 800 meters, but both are subject to change.
Out of the Blocks
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- Texas Tech's men's (No. 6) and women's (No. 12) track and field teams have each been ranked in the top 20 for the duration of the outdoor season so far. This week's rankings are the highest of the season for both squads.
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- This will be the final meet of the regular season for Texas Tech, before they compete at the Big 12 Championships, NCAA West Preliminary Round and the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
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- As of today, Texas Tech is in position to earn 43 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.
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- Texas Tech currently has 23 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.
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- The Red Raiders and Lady Raiders currently combine to have 11 marks ranking in the nation's top 10 in their respective events.
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- 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 will look to defend its men's conference title at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, May 15-17, in Ames, Iowa.
Sights Set On Austin
The outdoor qualifying process differs a little bit from the one used for the indoor season. The top 48Â 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 21 times in 2015.
Last Year At The Red Raider Open
In the midst of a season defined by consistent record-breaking high jump performances, JaCorian Duffield wasted little time setting the tone for Texas Tech at its annual Red Raider Open Saturday.  Â
The reigning indoor All-American put on a show at the Fuller Track and Field Complex where he soared up and over a bar at 2.27-meters (7-feet 5.25 inches) on his first attempt at the height. The jump came after already breaking his school and facility record with a clearance of 2.24 (7-4.25), and propelled the Schertz, Texas native to No. 2 on the NCAA performance list and No. 8 in the current IAAF World Rankings.
Duffield's performance was the first of two school records to fall Saturday in the final home outdoor meet before Texas Tech hosted the Big 12 Championships May 16-18.
Shortly after Duffield's school record jump, junior Red Raider sprinter Trevor Mackey went on to break a 24-year-old school record in the 200-meter dash where he crossed the finish line in just 20.47 seconds. The record came after finishing second, and first among collegians, in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.21 seconds - the fastest by a Red Raider in the event in nine years.
Last Time Out
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.
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.
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 in the 100 meters, running an 11.43 despite the cold weather and poor sprinting conditions.
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 Kole Weldon and Hannah Carson swept this week's Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors, Texas Tech has had an athlete win the award in each week of the 2015 outdoor season, except for one, and the Red Raiders have now won this award 10 times, dating back to the beginning of the indoor season, which doubles the previous program high. Tech's 10 honors during the 2015 indoor/outdoor season ranks second in conference history behind Texas A&M's 11 during the 2009-2010 season.
This is also the second the time in 2015 the Red Raiders have swept the male and female awards in one week. Last time it happened was Jan. 28, when JaCorian Duffield and Cierra White were honored in the same week. Seven different Red Raiders have won the award this season.
Players Mentioned
