Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Begin NCAA Indoor Championships Friday
March 09, 2016 | Track and Field
March 9, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech track & field looks to add more gold to the scarlet & black trophy case at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 11-12, at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama.
Both days will be streamed live on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app. Live results can be found at FlashResults.com.
The Red Raiders will be represented in five events in Birmingham: the 60-meter hurdles (Chris Caldwell), 400-meter dash (Kyle Collins), high jump (Bradley Adkins & Trey Culver), the men's 4x400 relay and the triple jump (Viershanie Latham).
The men's team is ranked No. 12 in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) computer rankings. It's the seventh-straight week they've been ranked inside the top 15, reaching as high as No. 7 in back-to-back weeks (Feb. 15 & 22).
Bradley Adkins, Calvin Robinson & James Thomas earn Mountain region awards! https://t.co/A7xVJJmfLi #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/TzMTuuV8Bi
- TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) March 4, 2016
QUALIFIERS
Texas Tech will send five events to the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham. Below are each competitor's NCAA rankings and when they will compete this weekend:
Chris Caldwell - 60-meter hurdles - 15th/7.74 - 6:10 p.m. Friday (S)/4:25 p.m. Saturday (F)
Kyle Collins - 400-meter dash - 12th/46.24 - 6:55 p.m. Friday (S)/5:10 p.m. Saturday (F)
Bradley Adkins - high jump - 1st/2.29m/7-6 - 7:55 p.m. Friday
Trey Culver - high jump - 10th/2.19m/7-2.25 - 7:55 p.m. Friday
Viershanie Latham - triple jump - 8th/13.31m/43-8 - 5:00 p.m. Saturday
Men's 4x400 Relay - 5th/3:04.98 - 6:40 p.m. Saturday
NCAA INDOOR HISTORY
The Red Raiders have captured 15 NCAA titles in the program's 41 year history. In 23 of those years, the men's team has scored at the meet, finishing as high as fifth twice in 2013 and 2015. Last year's squad posted the most points in school history at the meet with 31. The women have scored in 13 meets, with their highest finishing coming in 2009 in ninth. At the 2015 Indoor Championships, JaCorian Duffield captured the high jump crown, as he and Bradley Adkins went 1-2 in the event, the first teammates since 1974 to do so, clearing a school record mark 2.29m/7-6.
BACK-TO-BACK
Chris Caldwell is no novice to the big stage. At the Big 12 Championships, he successfully defended his 60-meter hurdles crown, thundering down the track to a time of 7.74 seconds. The year before, he won with a time of 7.76 seconds. His time at the meet was a season-best and was the 10th-fastest time in school history. Last year, he was the NCAA runner-up in the event after clocking in at 7.69, the seventh-fastest mark at Tech. His semifinal time of 7.64 ranked third in school history. In 2016, Caldwell opened the season with a national-leading time of 7.75 seconds at the Arkansas Invite, which began a streak of three-straight meets with first-place finishes in the 60H. Caldwell is one of four Red Raider All-Americans in the 60-meter hurdles and a national title would be the first in program history in the event.
CHARGED UP
Kyle Collins has had a tremendous season in the open 400 meters and as a member of the 4x400 relay team, which placed seventh at the 2015 Indoor meet last season. Collins kicked off the year with a pair of PR's in Albuquerque, finishing second in both 400-meter dash events with times of 46.84 on Jan. 30 and 46.43 on Feb. 6. At the Big 12 Championships, Collins powered around the track to a time of 46.24 to earn bronze, ensuring he would have a spot at NCAA Indoors. That time put him at fourth all-time at Texas Tech, trailing only Gil Roberts, who holds the top three marks. Collins will have the opportunity to be the first All-American since Roberts in 2012 and the first national champion in the event in school history.
THRICE AS NICE
For the third-straight NCAA Indoor Championships, the Red Raiders will have two competitors in the men's high jump. Bradley Adkins, who earned First Team All-America honors in each of the first two, returns for the final time in his collegiate indoor career. Last year, he was runner-up to teammate JaCorian Duffield, after both cleared a school record 2.29m/7-6. It was the first time since 1974 teammates had finished 1-2 in the event. This season, Adkins has already successfully made it over that height, doing so at the Tyson Invitational, which leads the NCAA this season. Adkins will be joined by Trey Culver, who sits at No. 10 this season with a clearance of 2.19m/7-2.25. Culver opened the season with back-to-back marks of 2.18m/7-1.75, both PR's, then moved up at the Tyson Invite and Big 12's with the 2.19m/7-2.25 bars. His mark at the conference meet earned him a second-place finish, while Adkins placed third. Culver earned Second Team All-America accolades at the NCAA Outdoor meet last year in his freshman season. The Red Raider's 15 All-America honors in the men's high jump, tying the men's 4x400 relay with the most by event on the men's side.
TRIPLE JUMPING PHENOM
Viershanie Latham became the first Red Raider to win the Big 12 title in the women's triple jump two weeks ago, leaping to a mark of 13.10m/42-11.75. That jump ranked second all-time at Texas Tech, trailing only her own record, thanks to a string of stellar performances in the three weeks prior to the conference meet. Latham broke the school record in three-straight meets during that stretch, with the last one going for a big distance of 13.31m/43-8. That mark ranked her eighth in the NCAA this season. Her name now appears six times in the Texas Tech all-time top 10 list in the event. When she jumps on Saturday, she'll have the opportunity to become the first female indoor triple jumper to be a national champion or indoor All-American at Texas Tech.
FOUR HORSEMEN
When the Red Raiders take the track in the final event of NCAA Indoors, they'll sport a two-time All-American squad that ranks fifth in the country and second all-time in school history. The team of Steven Champlin, Joseph Richards III, C.J. Jones and Kyle Collins flew around the track at the Tyson Invitational to a time of 3:04.98 to achieve that status. Champlin, Richards and Collins all posted sub-47 second times in the open 400 this season, with Jones finishing second in the 800 meters at Big 12's. At last year's NCAA Indoor meet, they finished seventh with a time of 3:07.52. They'll have the opportunity to become the 16th All-American squad in school history and the first to win a national title donning the scarlet & black.
Players Mentioned
