Texas Tech University Athletics
Red Raiders Set To Battle For Big 12 Championships
May 12, 2016 | Track and Field
May 12, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The No. 8 men's and No. 19 women's Texas Tech track & field teams hit the road for Fort Worth in search of more hardware at the 2016 Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 13-15 at the Lowdon Track & Field Complex.
Congrats to Hannah Carson for capturing @USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week! 👏 https://t.co/poQnr4xYCp #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/MvZ0j5F34b
-- TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) May 10, 2016
Sunday's running events will be streamed live on the Fox Sports Go app or on FoxSportsGo.com beginning at 4:30 p.m.
The men's team moved up again this week to No. 8 and were joined by the women's team, who made their debut at No. 19 in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) computer rankings. The Red Raiders have now been ranked in the top 25 of every outdoor poll since 2008. The men's team is also the only program to have been featured in all seven top 25 polls this season without dropping in the rankings during that stretch.
The Red Raiders wrapped up the regular season at the Masked Rider Open in front of the Lubbock faithful on May 6-7. At the meet, Tech amassed three school records, 22 personal or season-bests, 16 first-place finishes and an Olympic standard. Hannah Carson broke her second school record this season, this time in the discus, behind a mark of 61.97m/203-4. Joining her in the record-breaking department were Viershanie Latham and Gionna Jackson. Latham smashed the wind-aided triple jump record for the second time this season, leaping to a huge mark of 13.60m/44-7.5 (+4.0 m/s). Jackson also took down the wind-aided long jump record, reaching a distance of 6.34m/20-9.75 (+2.3 m/s) to pass the 11-year-old mark set by Tori Polk in 2005 (6.33m/20-9.25).
MAKING HISTORY
Hannah Carson is in the midst of a special senior season at Texas Tech. First, she broke the school record and became the No. 3 all-time collegian and No. 5 all-time U.S. performer in the javelin with a toss of 60.42m/198-3. Last weekend, she obliterated the discus school record after tossing it to a mark of 61.97m/203-4. Her discus distance put her at No. 12 all-time among collegiate athletes and gave her the Olympic standard in the event (61.00m). With the two marks combined, Carson became the first female collegian to ever break the 60-meter barrier in the javelin and discus in the same NCAA career, let alone the same season. Another piece of history Carson could own is if she passes 200 feet in the javelin, she would be the only female athlete to ever throw the javelin and discus 200 feet. The Olympic standard for the javelin is 62.00m/203-5.
ANOTHER ONE
For the second-straight week, Texas Tech picked up Big 12 Athlete of the Week honors and added USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week thanks to Hannah Carson's performance. The conference award is the third for the Red Raiders this outdoor season and sixth in 2016, joining Chris Caldwell, Bradley Adkins, Kyle Thompson and Charles Brown as recipients. Texas Tech finished the weekly conference award series with more male award winners than any other Big 12 program this season.
TWO NO. 1'S & TWO NO. 2'S
Heading into this weekend's competition, the Red Raiders have two NCAA leaders and two No. 2 ranked student-athletes. Trey Culver has held the NCAA lead in the high jump since April 2, when he cleared 2.26m/7-5 at the Texas Relays. Hannah Carson leads the country in the javelin (60.42m/198-3) and is second in the discus (61.97m/203-4) this season. Carson's discus mark came last weekend at the Masked Rider Open, which also saw Viershanie Latham jump six spots to No. 2 as well in the triple jump after a wind-aided leap of 13.60m/44-7.5.
The men climb to No. 8, while the women debut at No. 19 in the @USTFCCCA poll! https://t.co/I4j0HaPQmL #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/WFkbA8CPCN
-- TTU Track & Field/XC (@TTU_TF_XC) May 9, 2016
Texas Tech has claimed two men's team titles in 2005 and 2014. At last year's outdoor meet, the men took home second, while the women placed third. Tech brings seven student-athletes who have claimed an individual crown at the conference meet. At the 2016 indoor meet, Viershanie Latham (triple jump), Chris Caldwell (60-meter hurdles) and Shanice Stewart (pentathlon) all won individual titles. Caldwell is also the defending 110-meter hurdles champion, joining Hannah Carson (discus & javelin) and Natalie Thompson (heptathlon) who return to this year's meet after winning titles last year. In 2014, Bradley Adkins won the high jump championship and Nick Rivera brought home the 800-meter crown in 2013.
27 + 24
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. With the conference championships this week, the Red Raiders have added 24, including six school records. Along with the discus and wind-aided triple jump records, Tech secured the sixth school standard in the long jump thanks to Gionna Jackson. With just a slight tailwind, Jackson hit the sand at a distance of 6.34m/20-9.75, breaking the 11-year-old record set by Tori Polk in 2005. The Red Raiders have recorded at least one top 10 mark in every outdoor meet this season.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Texas Tech men's team climbed again this week to No. 8 and were joined by the Lady Raiders, who debuted at No. 19 in this week's USTFCCCA outdoor computer rankings. Since their debut position of No. 18, the men's team has moved up 10 spots over seven rankings releases, never dropping during that timespan. It is also the third-straight year the men's team has been ranked inside the top 10, reaching as high as fifth in 2014. With the women's team ranked this week, Texas Tech track & field has been ranked inside the top 25 in both polls in every outdoor season since 2008.
CHANGING THEIR STARS
During the 2016 outdoor season, the Red Raiders have recorded a total of 129 PR's. Tech added 19 in front of the Lubbock faithful last weekend at the Masked Rider Open.
ON THE DOCKET
Up next for the Red Raiders is the NCAA West Preliminaries on May 26-28 in Lawrence, Kansas, as Texas Tech track & field student-athletes look to punch their ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on June 8-11.
REGIONALS ARE COMING
With six weeks of action in the books, the Red Raiders have 40 student-athletes and relays represented in the top 48 (individuals) and top 24 (relays) on the NCAA West Qualifying list, which is the qualifying standard for the regional meet. Twenty-three of the 40 come from the men's team, with four coming from the 200 meters. Kyle Collins has found his way into four events: the 200 & 400 meters and the 4x100 & 4x100 relays. On the women's side, the long jump has the most representation with five in the top 35, which is more than any other university in the region. The Red Raiders will have one final crack at it this weekend in Fort Worth.
Players Mentioned
