Red Raider Group in Action at USATF Championships

Thursday, July 25

Des Moines, Iowa

Texas Tech Athletics

USA National Championships

Red Raider Group in Action at USATF Championships

July 23, 2019 | Track and Field

Meet Info Meet Schedule Follow @TexasTechTF on Twitter Follow @texastechtf on Instagram

Nine Red Raiders prepped for chance to represent Team USA.

By: Jeremy O'Brien

LUBBOCK, Texas – Nine American-born Red Raiders will make their way to Des Moines, Iowa, this week to get back to competition for the first time since the NCAA Championships in June. The group will be competing at the USATF Championships, where spots on Team USA for this fall's World Championships and USA vs. Europe Match are up for grabs.

"It's the cherry on top for this group that competed at NCAA Championships to now go get to compete against the pros," said Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Wes Kittley. "It's essentially the Olympic trials in a non-Olympic year. It may be intimidating for some of our group, but to get in the hunt with these pros and to compete is such a great opportunity."

"Any time you have a meet where you can earn a chance to go represent the USA is great," said Associate Head Coach James Thomas, who will coach jumps and multis for the U.S. team at the USA vs. Europe Match in September.

The travel roster will include six men and three women – all of whom competed at nationals. The men's side includes five scorers from the meet, including discus national champion Duke Kicinski. He will be joined in field competition by pole vaulter Brandon Bray and long jumpers Charles Brown and Justin Hall. On the track will be Vincent Crisp (800m) and Norman Grimes Jr. (400H).

Competing in the best pole vault competition in NCAA history, Bray chased down the school record after clearing 18'-8.25" (5.70m) for the best seventh-place finish ever at a championship meet. Hall leapt over eight meters in the long jump for the first time in his career, going 26'-5" (8.05m) for five big points on the first day of men's competition. Brown, who also competed in the long jump, became an All-American for the 11^th time in his Tech career by notching a Second-Team worthy 13^th place. He also was an All-American in the triple jump.

On the track, national runner-up Grimes ran a season-best 48.71 to claim the school record and eight points for Tech. Crisp ended his Tech career with a First Team All-American performance in the 800m, going 1:47.48 for his second-best time of the season.

The women's side will also be led by a national champion. Zarriea Willis, who swept the indoor and outdoor Big 12 and NCAA titles in the high jump will compete at her first USATF Championship meet. She went over six-foot-one twice this season, including the school record height of 6'-2" (1.88m) in a jump-off to take home Tech's first-ever outdoor title in the women's high jump.

Willis will be joined by Alaysha Johnson, whose NCAA Championship saw her tackle the school record in the 100m hurdles after running a 12.92. She also ran a 12.93 – the second-fastest time in program history – in the preliminary in Austin. Seasons Usual, who just missed scoring in her first NCAA Championship appearance, will throw the discus. The sophomore earned herself a bid to nationals with a personal-best 188'-2" (57.35m). It was the fifth-farthest throw in program history.

The travel group will include six graduates who will be competing in their first post-collegiate meet.

"We have a lot of seniors coming with us who are looking to stake their claim as post-collegiate athletes," Thomas said. "A lot of them have a great opportunity to make the national team for one of the fall meets. I think you're going to see a lot of high-level competition."

A handful of former Red Raiders will also be competing in Des Moines. High jump national champions JaCorian Duffield and Trey Culver will lead the way. The jumps program will also be represented on the women's side, with Viershanie Latham competing in the triple jump. Andrew Hudson will run the 100m and 200m. The recent graduate scored in the latter at nationals, placing seventh.

Kittley believes having former Tech athletes competing at such prominent meets gives more confidence to the current Red Raiders.

"When you have Red Raiders that were national champions and are Olympians and you not only get to train with them but compete against them at that level, that is invaluable," he said. "I think they're very proud to see their former teammates there, but I also think it gives them hope that they can be there, too."

The USATF Championships are set to begin Thursday. A full meet schedule is available here.