Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Qualifies 32 Entries For NCAA West Preliminaries
May 19, 2016 | Track and Field
Three of Tech's 32 entries are also regional leaders: Hannah Carson (javelin), Trey Culver (high jump) and Viershanie Latham (triple jump).
May 19, 2016
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The Texas Tech No. 10 men's and No. 19 women's track & field teams have qualified 32 entries into the NCAA West Preliminaries, which will be held on May 26-28 at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas.
To qualify, the Red Raiders had to be ranked inside the top 48 of their individual events and top 24 of the relays to make it into the regional meet. From there, the top 12 of both will punch their ticket and advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The 32 entries are split perfectly down the middle with 16 from the men's and 16 from the women's teams.
Texas Tech has three NCAA region leaders: Hannah Carson (women's javelin), Trey Culver (men's high jump) and Viershanie Latham (women's triple jump). Carson broke her own school record at the Michael Johnson Invitational with a toss of 60.42m/198-3 to lead not only the West, but all of the NCAA. Culver, the Big 12 champion, cleared the bar set at 2.26m/7-5 at the Texas Relays to claim the lead, which was also No. 1 in the country until last weekend. Latham, who set the indoor school record earlier this year, claimed the wind-aided outdoor record in the triple jump after launching herself to a distance of 13.60m/44-7.5 to top the field.
The Red Raiders will roll two-deep in all three of those events, with Natalie Baker (women's javelin -- No. 25), Bradley Adkins (men's high jump -- No. 4) and Gionna Jackson (women's triple jump -- No. 12) joining the trio of regional leaders.
Carson will also compete in the women's discus, an event she ranks No. 2 in the West, after a school-record 61.97m/203-4 toss at the Masked Rider Open on May 6. She is the only female athlete to ever break the 60-meter barrier in both the javelin and discus in the same NCAA career, let alone the same season.
Latham & Jackson will also be joined by Amani Nesmith & Kaylee Hinton to compete in the women's long jump. Jackson leads the quartet with a leap of 6.34m/20-9.75, which is the wind-aided school record set at the Masked Rider Open on May 6. The four entries are tied with Nebraska for the most by any university in the women's long jump.
On the men's side, Charles Brown will be represented in both the long and triple jump events. The Big 12 Long Jump Champion has a mark of 7.83m/25-8.25 in the long jump and just set another PR in the triple jump at the conference meet last weekend at 15.79m/51-9.75. He is one of two freshmen set to compete in both events at the meet.
Tech will also have two women's high jumpers as well in Natalie Thompson and Zarriea Willis. The duo are only separated by half an inch, with Thompson's top clearance this season coming at 1.77m/5-9.75 and Willis' best reached last weekend at Big 12's at 1.76m/5-9.25.
Rounding out the field events for the Red Raiders will be Brandon Bray and Haley Cook in the men's and women's pole vault. Both competitors are ranked in the top 15 of the region in the event, with Bray hitting a new PR at the conference meet last weekend at 5.35m/17-6.5 and Cook checking in at 4.17m/13-8.25.
On the track, the Red Raiders will have 15 representatives across 12 running events. The men's team will have two competitors each in the 400m, 800m and 400-meter hurdle events. Kyle Collins (No. 4) & Joseph Richards III (No. 15) will run in the 400m, the Big 12 champion C.J. Jones (No. 10) & Vincent Crisp (No. 16) will compete in the 800m and JW Smith (No. 6) & Caleb Richmond (No. 39) will circle the track in the 400-meter hurdles. Sara Limp will compete in the women's 400 meters, checking in at No. 29 with a time of 54.10.
Another women's sprinter, Tiffani Johnson, will compete in the women's 100 meters as she comes into the meet with a time of 11.56 seconds (No. 36). Johnson & Limp have also combined with Latham & Nesmith a 45.09 in the women's 4x100 relay, which qualified for the meet with the No. 22 time.
The men's team will have both the 4x100 & 4x400 relays competing as well. The top sprint relay clocked in at 39.50 with a team of Nigel Bethel, Andrew Hudson, Kareem McBride & Kyle Collins at No. 7. McBride & Collins also joined Richards & Crisp to run 3:05.18 in the 4x400 relay, which is ranked sixth coming into the meet.
Two other Big 12 champions, Chris Caldwell & Benard Keter, will also look to advance to Eugene in their respective events. Caldwell comes into the regional meet with the sixth-fastest time in the region in the 110-meter hurdles at 13.63, while Keter is ranked seventh in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a school record 8:40.43.
Evans Tuitoek & Jocelyn Caro will also represent Texas Tech in the long-distance events, the men's 5000 & women's 10000-meter races. Tuitoek has the No. 30 time in the 5000m at 13:58.56 and Caro checks in at No. 38 in the 10000m at 34:36.85.
The NCAA West Preliminaries are set for May 26-28 at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence, Kansas.
Players Mentioned
