Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
NCAA West Preliminary Round
White & Speight Punch NCAA Tickets In Austin
May 29, 2015 | Track and Field
May 29, 2015
Cierra White earned an automatic qualification in the 100 meter dash, taking third in her heat, with a time of 11.33. She followed that up by advancing to tomorrow's 200m quarterfinal, winning her heat with a time of 23.00.
This is the fourth-straight year in which White has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in an event.
Montene Speight will be making the trip to Eugene as well, after earning a time qualification in the 400 meter dash. Her time of 52.68 was only her third-fastest mark this season, but was enough to earn the NCAA bid.
"I'm so happy for Mo [Speight]," Texas Tech head coach Wes Kittley said. "This will be her first time to go to NCAA's as an individual. That, along with all of her academic honors makes for such a great year as a student-athlete. She is a great Red Raider. I thought Cierra [White] was great in the 100 meters today. Four straight years to nationals is a great accomplishment. I also thought she had a smooth race in the 200 meters, winning her heat easily. That really sets her up well for the quarterfinal, where I think she'll have a good lane."
In the first round of the sprint hurdles, Le'Tristan Pledger (13.24) won her heat to advance to the quarterfinals on the women's side, and on the men's side Chris Caldwell (13.75) took second in his heat to earn a spot in the quarterfinal.
Tech had three near misses on Friday, as Kole Weldon (18.41m/60-4.75) took 17th in the shot put, JW Smith (51.29) placed 15th in the 400m hurdles and Hannah Carson (53.65m/176-0) missed qualification in the discus by three inches, placing 13th.
Action continues for Texas Tech track & field tomorrow, on the final day of the NCAA West Preliminaries, with field events starting at noon, and running events beginning at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
