Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Indoor Championships
Texas Tech Adds Two Big 12 Individual Champions On Saturday
February 27, 2016 | Track and Field
Feb. 27, 2016
AMES, Iowa -- Texas Tech track & field completed the 2016 Big 12 Indoor Championships with a pair of fourth-place team finishes.
15🏆16🏆: Chris Caldwell goes Back to Back in the 60H & runs the 10th fastest time in school history!! 🏃💨 #WreckEmhttps://t.co/OoJ5DoTiut
-- TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) February 27, 2016
The men's team racked up 97.5 points, while the women's team earned 75 points.
The Red Raiders added two more individual champions on day two of the meet, Chris Caldwell in the men's 60-meter hurdles and Viershanie Latham in the women's triple jump. They join Shanice Stewart as the three champions from this year's indoor meet.
In each of the three meets leading up to the conference championships, Viershanie Latham had broken the school record in the women's triple jump. On Saturday, she may not have broken her own record again, but she accomplished something just as sweet.
Latham got on the board early in the event, starting off with a leading jump of 12.69m/41-7.75 and improving on her second mark at 12.73m/41-9.25. Going into the finals, she would sit in second overall, but her fourth jump (12.97m/42-6.75) would give her a lead that she would hold onto through the rest of the competition.
It would be her fifth jump that would be the best of the day for Latham, who leaped to a distance of 13.10m/42-11.75 to seal title. Her championship is the first Big 12 Indoor women's triple jump title in Texas Tech history.
Gionna Jackson also found her way onto the medal stand for her performance in the triple jump after posting a PR at 12.92m/42-4.75 to finish fourth.
Chris Caldwell, the 2015 Big 12 60-meter hurdle champion, successfully defended his title on Saturday, running his fastest time of 2016 in the process. In the prelims, Caldwell turned in the second-fastest time at 7.99, but in the final, he motored over the hurdles and down the track to a time of 7.44 seconds to claim the title. The mark moves him up to No. 12 in the NCAA this season.
Caldwell's time also tied the 10th-best mark in school history, which was also a mark he set last year at the Tyson Invitational. He was joined on the podium by Darien Tennon, who finished fourth at 8.06.
In the men's high jump, Tech went 2-3 after Culver and Adkins cleared 2.19m/7-2.25 to earn All-Big 12 performer honors. The duo flew through several of the previous heights on their first attempts before topping off. On the women's side, Kaylee Hinton (fifth) and Zarriea Willis (sixth) also earned All-Big 12 accolades after both clearing 1.71m/5-7.25.
C.J. Jones and Vincent Crisp posted second and fourth-place finishes in the 800-meter final, respectively. Jones lead until the race until the final straightaway, recording a time of 1:49.29, while Crisp battled back to cross the line at 1:50.03. Texas Tech also earned All-Big 12 honors in the women's 800 meters, after Kelly McQuaid entered a time of 2:11.38.
Michael Samuels completed the men's heptathlon on Saturday with the 10th-best score in school history, tallying 4,874 points en route to an eighth-place finish. He would also finish sixth in the triple jump at 14.43m/47-4.25.
Texas Tech also earned all-conference honors on Saturday from: Andrew Hudson (60m & 200m), Todd Mickey (mile), Alex Foster (600y), Steven Champlin (400m & 4x400 relay), Kyle Collins (400m & 4x400 relay), Joseph Richards III (400m), Nick Rivera (1000m), JW Smith (4x400 relay), Vincent Crisp (4x400 relay) and Kirk Weldon (weight throw) on the men's team. Shanice Stewart (60-meter hurdles), Maygen Smith (600y), Sara Limp (200m & 4x400 relay), Taylor Rockwell (4x400 relay), Natalie Thompson (4x400 relay) and Maygen Smith (4x400 relay).
The Red Raiders turn their attention toward the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 11-12 in Birmingham, Alabama.
