Red Raiders Repeat as Big 12 Champions

Saturday, February 23

Lubbock, Texas

Texas Tech Athletics

Big 12 Indoor Championships

Red Raiders Repeat as Big 12 Champions

February 23, 2019 | Track and Field

Full Results

Men post most dominant victory in conference history, women tie top finish in program history.

By: Jeremy O'Brien

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Big 12 Indoor Championships' first-ever trip through Lubbock ushered in world-leading times, broken records and the most dominant victory in the history of the conference.

Divine Oduduru led the way for a Texas Tech men's team that scored 179 points – a full 25 points more than has ever been scored in the conference meet. The men's runner-up, Iowa State, tallied 109 points, making it the largest margin of victory in the 22-year history of the conference's indoor meet.

Oduduru began his Saturday by running a 6.52 to win the 60m. The Nigerian was just the first Red Raider to cross in the race, as Andrew Hudson followed Oduduru with a 6.57 to grab eight points. Derrius Rodgers secured five more with a fourth-place 6.66.

But Oduduru was not close to finished. After his career-best 60m time, he turned around and ran a 20.08 in the 200m – the fastest indoor time in the world and second-fastest in the history of collegiate track. Oduduru's mark broke just about every record it could, counting as the best time ever run at a Big 12 Championship, Texas Tech and the Sports Performance Center. His 20 points from winning the 60m and 200m made him the co-high points leader on the men's side.

The junior was followed by Hudson, who again supplemented Oduduru's 10 points with eight more for the Red Raiders. He came through with a 20.55. Rodgers again followed the two with a fourth-place finish, this time turning in a 21.03 to add on 23 more points.

With 23-point hauls in both the 60m and 200m, the Red Raiders added still another 23 in the triple jump by placing four jumpers in the top-five. Jah-Nhai Perinchief led the way with a second-place 54'-11.5" (16.75m). Tech owned the next three places, beginning with a bronze-medal performance from Odaine Lewis and his 53'-10.25" (16.41m). Charles Brown (fourth) and Jequan Hogan (fifth) rounded out the big points grab as the Red Raiders made it clear they were not interested in allowing it to be a close race for the men's title.

Perinchief had more in his tank, too. After taking silver in the triple, he went on to do the same in the high jump. Perinchief and Kansas State's Tejaswin Shankar traded clearances all the way up to 7'-5.75"(2.28m) – personal bests for both of them. They each fouled out at 7'-7" (2.31m), and it was Shankar that took the title with fewer misses.

Axel Hubert brought home the first indoor title in the hep in program history, tallying 5,678 points. The freshman from France, who already holds ownership of the program record in the event, secured the win despite eight of 10 competitors posting career-best scores.

Tech also picked up a conference title in the 1,000m thanks to Jonah Koech. In his Big 12 debut, the UTEP transfer ran a career-best 2:23.75 for the 10 points. Though he missed out on a title, Vincent Crisp picked up five more points for the middle distance crew with a 1:08.52 in an incredibly fast 600-yard final. Five more points also came by way of Tyreek Mathis, whose 46.60 landed him in fourth place in the 400m. Mathis then helped the 4x400m team to a 3:14.95 to tack on three more points to the blowout.

Zarriea Willis led a women's team that scored the second-most points in program history at 108.5 as they finished in second in the team standings. Her contribution came in the high jump, as she PR'd at 6'-0.75" (1.85m) to pick up her second Big 12 title in three years. The senior was joined in scoring by Cyre Virgo, who went 5'-9.25" (1.76m).

In the triple, Chinne Okoronkwo secured third place – and six points – for Tech with a jump of 42'-9.75" (13.05m). The jump placed her eighth in program history. Combined with points from her pole vault win and sixth-place finish in the long jump, Okoronkwo racked up 19 points in her Big 12s debut – the second-most of any female competitor. Chelsey Cole and Brianna Johnson also scored, taking sixth and seventh, respectively.

Also participating in the historic effort for the women's team was Sara Limp, who pushed herself to a near-PR 52.60 in the 400m to grab eight points. Fellow sprinter D'Jenne Egharevba also hauled in eight points in the 200m, running a personal-best 23.22 for the silver. Egharevba also scored in the 60m, taking seventh with a 7.42. The 600-yard brought six more Tech points courtesy of Lexye Price (fifth place) and Damajahnee Birch (seventh), who both fought through Friday's prelims to score in their Big 12 Championships debuts.

In a longer race, Nokuthula Dlamini PR'd for the second day in a row after running a 2:51.35 in the 1,000m. The junior squeezed her way into the finals after placing eighth in the prelim to earn an at-large spot.