Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Host Texas Tech Open On Thursday
March 23, 2016 | Track and Field
March 23, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Texas Tech track & field stays in Lubbock for the first home meet of the season, the Texas Tech Open, on Thursday, March 24, at the Terry & Linda Fuller Track & Field Complex.
The men's team debuts at No. 18 in the @USTFCCCA outdoor preseason poll! https://t.co/9EFECqELHC #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/NpBNBuaiOB
-- TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) March 23, 2016
Teams competing at this year's Texas Tech Open include: Abilene Christian, Oral Roberts, Lubbock Christian, Odessa, Southwest, Southwest-Christian, New Mexico Junior College, Wayland Baptist, West Texas A&M, Western Texas and Eastern New Mexico.
The men's team is ranked No. 18 in the preseason U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) computer rankings. Last year, the men's squad finished ninth with 18 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Red Raiders racked up six first-place finishes at the TCU Invitational, the first outdoor meet of the season, last weekend in Fort Worth. Miguel Bautista recorded the fifth-fastest time in school history in the men's 3000 meters after clocking in with a personal-best 8:36.51. In the javelin, Hannah Carson tossed the eighth-best mark at Texas Tech, going for a distance of 54.77m/179-8. The Red Raiders swept the men's and women's long jump thanks to Charles Brown and Shanice Stewart. Brown leaped to a mark of 7.42m/24-4.25, while Stewart jumped to 6.07m/19-11.0, both going against the wind. Vincent Crisp and JW Smith also picked up wins in the 800 meters and 400-meter hurdles, respectively. Crisp crossed the finish line at 1:51.22, while Smith circled the track to a time of 52.28 for the win.
THRICE AS NICE
The Texas Tech Open is the first of three meets scheduled to be held at the Terry & Linda Fuller Track & Field Complex this season. After Thursday's meet, Tech will host the Red Raider Open on April 15-16, followed by the Masked Rider Open on May 6.
27 + 2
By the end of the indoor season, the Red Raiders had 27 new top 10 all-time marks in their record books, including two school records. They wasted no time adding two more top 10 marks to the outdoor records last week at the TCU Invitational. In the men's 3000 meters, Miguel Bautista crossed the finish line with the fifth-fastest time in school history at 8:36.51. Joining Bautista was Hannah Carson, who added another mark to the javelin top 10 list, a group that she already owned all of the top marks in before the meet. At the TCU Invite, she tossed the eighth-best mark at Texas Tech at 54.77m/179-8.
INTO THE RANKINGS
The Texas Tech men's team debuted at No. 18 in the men's USTFCCCA outdoor preseason computer rankings. At last year's NCAA Championships, the men's team finished ninth with 18 points. The Red Raiders have been ranked in the preseason top 25 every year since 2008. Texas Tech began the indoor season at No. 17 before climbing as high as No. 7. They finished indoors at No. 20 after earning 10 points at the NCAA Indoor Championship meet.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
The Red Raiders have enjoyed an abundance of success at the Terry & Linda Fuller Track & Field Complex over the years and will look to continue that trend on Thursday. Two current Texas Tech student-athletes hold facility records, both set last year on April 30. Paetyn Revell set the complex record in the triple jump with a leap of 13.43m/44-0.75 at the Red Raider Open. That mark is also the school record. In the long jump, Shanice Stewart, competing unattached, put up a huge mark of 6.58m/21-7.25 to break the facility record.
Charles Brown leaps into the wind to take the men's long jump victory with a mark of 7.42m/24-4.25! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/x4Jh6TxudL
-- TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) March 18, 2016
Tech claimed victories in both the men's and women's long jump events last weekend at the TCU Invitational. On the women's side, the Red Raiders had the top four jumps among collegiate competitors, with Shanice Stewart leading the way at 6.07m/19-11.0. Gionna Jackson, Kaylee Hinton and Amani Nesmith all followed Stewart claim the top of the throne after jumping against the wind. Stewart's mark is fourth on the NCAA West qualifying list this season and second in the conference by only three inches. Charles Brown took the top spot on the men's side after posting a solid performance of 7.42m/24-4.25. His mark stands as the sixth-best in the NCAA West region this season and is No. 2 in the Big 12 by an inch and a half.
PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF
Hannah Carson posted a strong 2016 debut in the javelin and discus at the TCU Invitational on March 18. In the javelin, Carson launched it for a distance of 54.77m/179-8, nearly 20 feet further than any other competitor in the field. It was the eighth-best mark in Texas Tech history and is the third-best in the NCAA West region so far this season. In the discus, Carson placed second by just three feet, checking in with a mark of 53.13m/174-4, which stands as the sixth-best on the qualifying list this year. In 2015, Carson won the Big 12 title in both events and was the NCAA runner-up and USA Championships runner-up in the javelin.
ON THE DOCKET
After the Texas Tech Open, the Red Raiders will return to the road for the Texas Relays in Austin. Tech will be competing on all four days of the meet, beginning on Wednesday, March 30, with the heptathlon at 10:30 a.m.
Players Mentioned
