Red Raiders Primed for Big 12 Championships

Friday, May 10

Norman, Okla.

Texas Tech Athletics

Big 12 Outdoor Championships

Red Raiders Primed for Big 12 Championships

May 09, 2019 | Track and Field

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Texas Tech off to Norman for conference title meet.

By: Jeremy O'Brien

LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech departs for Norman, Okla., Thursday, where the men's team will seek a second straight indoor/outdoor sweep of the Big 12 Championships and the women will make a strong case for their first-ever conference title.

The Red Raiders have remained on top of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings for all but one week since the first polls were released in January. This ranking has been propped up recently by Drew McMichael, Duke Kicinski and Odaine Lewis. Last week, McMichael broke the school's pole vault record for the second straight weekend and, with his newest career-best height of 18'-2.5" (5.55m), has entered the top-10 national rankings. Kicinski, who has been the top-ranked discus thrower in the nation since the first week of the season, tightened his grip on the number-one spot when he toppled the school record at the Corky/Crofoot Classic two weeks ago with a distance of 208'-2" (63.45m). At the same meet, Lewis joined teammate Charles Brown in the national top-three in the long jump with a 26'-7" (8.10m). Brown sits third with a 26'-5.75" (8.07m).

Prior to the last two weeks, this ranking was established – and then confirmed – several times by incredible performances from Divine Oduduru and Tech's sprints team. Oduduru, who has been on the watch list for The Bowerman for the entirety of the indoor and outdoor season, leads the world in both the 100m (9.94) and 200m (19.76). The latter, which was run three weeks ago at Baylor, is the second-fastest time ever run by a collegiate. The defending NCAA Champion in the 200m will enter Norman as the defending conference champion in both the 100m and 200m. Directly behind Oduduru in both events is Andrew Hudson, whose 10.13 and 20.47 are the closest anyone in the Big 12 has been able to get to the Nigerian.

Also returning as defending conference champions for the men include Vincent Crisp (800m), Norman Grimes, Jr. (400m hurdles), Odaine Lewis (long jump) and Duke Kicinski (discus). The latter three will all come to Oklahoma as the top-ranked in the conference in their respective events. Tech's 4x100 team, also a defending conference champion, has since shaved nearly half of a second off last year's 39.39 to down to a school-record 38.87 this year.

The men's team's conference win last year in Waco was by 48 points over the second-place Texas Longhorns. While comfortable, this season's squad made a statement at the Tech-hosted Big 12 Indoor Championships by taking the title by 70 points – the largest margin of victory in conference history. It was done with a conference-record 179 points on the scoreboard.

The Lady Raiders have remained in 14^thfor two straight weeks. The ranking will be their highest entering the Big 12 Outdoor Championships since 2015, when they came in at 10^th. They would go on to finish top-20 at the NCAA Championships that year – their second-best finish in program history.

The women's team has been led in the rankings by Zarriea Willis, the defending indoor national champion in the high jump who currently ranks second in the nation. Willis is the Lady Raiders' lone returning Big 12 Champion and All-American, but she will receive big-time backup from impactful transfers looking to improve on last year's sixth-place team finish at conference.

Among these is Alaysha Johnson, who validated the excitement surrounding her arrival in Lubbock as a senior transfer last month when she dipped below 13 seconds (12.99) in the 100m hurdles for the first time in the Scarlet & Black while competing at Baylor. Two weeks later at home, she ran a career-best 57.81 in the 400m hurdles alongside teammate Damajahnee Birch, who PR'd at 57.90. With the times, the duo hopped into the national top-20 and took over as the second- and third-ranked quarter-hurdlers in the Big 12.

Chinne Okoronkwo can contribute to the Lady Raiders team in several ways. A three-event competitor during the indoor season, Okoronkwo has narrowed her focus to the two events for which she traveled to indoor nationals: triple jump and pole vault. The junior sits third in the Big 12 in the former with a top mark of 44'-4.75" (13.53m). In the pole vault, the defending Big 12 indoor champion is tied for fifth with fellow teammate Chloe Wall, who each boast a top clearance of 13'-10" (4.22m).

Okoronkwo will be joined in the jumps by several Tech triplers who are seeking to pick up points, including Chelsey Cole (fifth in the Big 12) and Brianna Johnson (seventh). Cole is also a medalist candidate in the long jump, currently ranking fourth behind second-ranked teammate Ivy Walker. Also hopping into the top-eight – in which Tech owns half the spots – are Talajah Murrell (fifth) and Maya Evans (seventh). The women's team's push for its first Big 12 trophy will run through the sand pits.

The Big 12 Championships will get underway Friday, May 10^th. Tickets, streaming information, results and more can be found at the Big 12's Championship Central page here.