Friday, March 19
Abilene, Texas
3:00 P.M.
Texas Tech Athletics
at
Wes Kittley Invitational
Outdoor Season Begins at ACU’s Wes Kittley Invitational
March 17, 2021 | Track and Field
Red Raiders switch gears to outdoor season with trip to Abilene.
LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech's outdoor campaign will get underway this weekend in Abilene. The Red Raiders will compete at the Wes Kittley Invitational, hosted by Abilene Christian. The aptly-named meet has served as Tech's outdoor opener each of the last few seasons.
For head coach Wes Kittley, the opportunity to have his team compete at a meet bearing his namesake is an honor.
"I was there for 22 years, first as an athlete and then as a coach," he said. "It was a big part of my life. That's where it all started [for me]. I'm so honored they named a meet after me. It's special, and this time we'll get to honor my former coach, Don Hood, with an endowed scholarship in his name that I helped start. It's my roots and where I started, and it's always a good time to go back."
In addition to honoring Tech's head coach, the weekend will offer the opportunity for Red Raider student-athletes to compete outdoors for the first time since 2019.
"I'm especially excited to get back my COVID seniors, as I call them. It's been a long time for them to wait. They're our veterans on our team and the leaders on our team, and it's going to be fun to get the outdoor season started because we've been looking forward to it for a while."
Tech has several "COVID seniors" who opted to return for one final outdoor season, and their competition this weekend will mark their first in a year because of their lack of indoor eligibility this winter. This weekend, competing in the Scarlet and Black for the first time since 2020 indoors, will be D'Jenne Egharevba, Kaylee Hinton, Chinne Okoronkwo, Karayme Bartley, Justin Hall and Keion Sutton. For Sara Limp, who suffered a season-ending injury at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Championships, and Werner Bouwer, a javelin thrower who does not compete indoors, it will be their first outdoor meet in two calendar years.
"When COVID hit and our outdoor season ended, it was kind of a waiting game," said Limp. "We didn't know if the seniors were going to get to come back. I was still training and working out while in my master's program. I didn't want to leave where it ended, so I made the decision to come back."
Limp's thought process mirrors that of many of the above Red Raiders who remained committed to staying in Lubbock after the pandemic ended what would have been their final season.
"I'm especially excited to get back my COVID seniors, as I call them," said Kittley. "It's been a long time for them to wait. They're our veterans on our team and the leaders on our team, and it's going to be fun to get the outdoor season started because we've been looking forward to it for a while."
Notable hold-outs from the first outdoor meet include all of the jumpers who competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend – Ruth Usoro, Monae' Nichols, Jalen Seals and Jack Scarborough – as well as 800m runner Takieddine Hedeilli and DMR runner Owen Likins. That batch of Red Raiders are likely to rest before opening their campaign next week at the Texas Relays in Austin.
The Wes Kittley Invitational will begin with throws Friday at 3 p.m. Saturday's action will get underway at 10:30 a.m. with the javelin and long jump. Track events will start at 2:05 p.m.
Attendance at the Wes Kittley Invitational will be open and free to all fans.
For head coach Wes Kittley, the opportunity to have his team compete at a meet bearing his namesake is an honor.
"I was there for 22 years, first as an athlete and then as a coach," he said. "It was a big part of my life. That's where it all started [for me]. I'm so honored they named a meet after me. It's special, and this time we'll get to honor my former coach, Don Hood, with an endowed scholarship in his name that I helped start. It's my roots and where I started, and it's always a good time to go back."
In addition to honoring Tech's head coach, the weekend will offer the opportunity for Red Raider student-athletes to compete outdoors for the first time since 2019.
"I'm especially excited to get back my COVID seniors, as I call them. It's been a long time for them to wait. They're our veterans on our team and the leaders on our team, and it's going to be fun to get the outdoor season started because we've been looking forward to it for a while."
Tech has several "COVID seniors" who opted to return for one final outdoor season, and their competition this weekend will mark their first in a year because of their lack of indoor eligibility this winter. This weekend, competing in the Scarlet and Black for the first time since 2020 indoors, will be D'Jenne Egharevba, Kaylee Hinton, Chinne Okoronkwo, Karayme Bartley, Justin Hall and Keion Sutton. For Sara Limp, who suffered a season-ending injury at the 2019 Big 12 Indoor Championships, and Werner Bouwer, a javelin thrower who does not compete indoors, it will be their first outdoor meet in two calendar years.
"When COVID hit and our outdoor season ended, it was kind of a waiting game," said Limp. "We didn't know if the seniors were going to get to come back. I was still training and working out while in my master's program. I didn't want to leave where it ended, so I made the decision to come back."
Limp's thought process mirrors that of many of the above Red Raiders who remained committed to staying in Lubbock after the pandemic ended what would have been their final season.
"I'm especially excited to get back my COVID seniors, as I call them," said Kittley. "It's been a long time for them to wait. They're our veterans on our team and the leaders on our team, and it's going to be fun to get the outdoor season started because we've been looking forward to it for a while."
Notable hold-outs from the first outdoor meet include all of the jumpers who competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend – Ruth Usoro, Monae' Nichols, Jalen Seals and Jack Scarborough – as well as 800m runner Takieddine Hedeilli and DMR runner Owen Likins. That batch of Red Raiders are likely to rest before opening their campaign next week at the Texas Relays in Austin.
The Wes Kittley Invitational will begin with throws Friday at 3 p.m. Saturday's action will get underway at 10:30 a.m. with the javelin and long jump. Track events will start at 2:05 p.m.
Attendance at the Wes Kittley Invitational will be open and free to all fans.
Players Mentioned
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Javelin
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Combined Events
/ Track and Field
XC/Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps/Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps/Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
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