Wish Leach could sign these dudes up!
http://www.redraiders.com/stories/061005/tra_061005023.shtml
Texas Tech men's relay team sets new record in 1,600
BY PATRICK GONZALES
A-J SPORTS EDITOR
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Texas Tech capped its second day at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with quite a bang.
In fact, it was probably heard around the world.
The Tech men's 1,600-meter relay won its heat in the preliminary round Thursday with a 3:01.69, good enough for a school and Hornet Stadium record and the fastest time in the world this year.
The previous best in the world came during the Texas Relays in April, when United States "Red" - anchored by two-time gold medalist Jeremy Wariner - won the event in a time of 3:01.91.
The relay was run by four juniors - Johnny Jacob, Michael Mathieu, Terry Beard and Andrae Williams.
"I'm just flabbergasted," Tech coach Wes Kittley said. "I wish I knew how to bottle that up for (the final) Saturday, because that was just awesome. We just beat our school record to death, and to be the fastest in the world right now is just incredible."
Tech sophomore Bryan Scott advanced to the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles despite running a sub-par race in the preliminaries of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Scott finished third in his heat - one spot short of receiving an automatic pass to the next round - but his time of 51.02 ranked 14th out of the 16 runners who moved on.
"It's a blessing, because I didn't think my time was going to be good enough," said Scott, a former Estacado standout. "I didn't even get past the first round last year, so this is an improvement."
Scott, however, didn't know he moved on until several minutes after the race. So disgusted with his performance, he left Hornet Stadium to cool down on the nearby practice track.
It was there where a Tech coach gave him the good news.
"I was very surprised," Scott said. "I'm just happy to get a second chance. My first race at every meet is probably my roughest so, hopefully, I'll come out with a stronger performance."
Tech senior Jonathan Johnson did just that Thursday to finish second in his 800-meter heat and automatically advance to Saturday's final.
Johnson, the defending national champion in the event, cruised to a 1:48.13 during Wednesday's preliminary round. He pushed the pace Thursday then coasted the final 20 meters to clock a 1:46.74 - the second fastest of the day.
"I wanted to take the race out pretty fast, so I could get a feel of how the pace is going to be Saturday," Johnson said. "I had a lot left for the final 200, but there was no reason for me to try and win the race. All I needed to do was finish in the top three and advance."
Scott's and Johnson's advancement gives the Red Raiders continued hope at surpassing their eighth-place team finish at the national meet a year ago.
Their chances at a national championship, however, are more than likely gone.
Kittley said before the meet that his team would have to perform above expectations in a handful of events. That strategy took a major hit when Tyree Gailes failed to advance out of the first round in the 200.
Gailes had a similar result in the 100, an event in which he placed fourth at the national meet a year ago, on Wednesday but was expected to do better in the 200 and score points for the Red Raiders.
Instead, he finished fifth in his heat - one spot away from automatically advancing - in a time of 21.06. The top 18 athletes in the event advanced to the semifinals, and Gailes finished with the 20th-best time.
Gailes has been suffering from turf toe the last few weeks.
"I feel disappointed for him," Kittley said. "We thought he would be healthy enough to compete well in the 200, but I guess he just didn't feel right. It's said that he had to end his senior year like that."
On the women's side, Tech junior Althea Chambers just missed qualifying for the final in the 800. She finished fifth in her heat and 10th overall, but only the top eight athletes in the event advanced to Saturday's final.
Tech junior Brionne Yosten ran a season best 4:22.81 in the first round of the 1,500, but it wasn't enough to advance to the next round.
Lacy Wilson, a sophomore, ended her first national meet in disappointing fashion, failing to qualify for the final in the high jump.
Wilson, who won the Midwest Regional two weeks ago and set a school record earlier this year at 6-03/4, cleared just 5-93/4 on Wednesday.
The cutoff height for the qualifiers was 5-103/4, which Wilson failed to clear in three attempts.
"There have been a few disappointments, but you're going to have those in every track meet," Kittley said. "The key is to put those behind you and focus on what you can do next. We're still a young group and no matter what happens, we're getting some big-time experience."
There were a handful of events in which Tech athletes competed in that weren't done by press time, including the preliminaries in the women's 1,600 relay, women's long jump final (Tori Polk) and women's 10,000 meters final (Violet Chemakwila).
To comment on this story:
patrick.gonzales@lubbockonline.com 766-8735
doug.hensley@lubbockonline.com 766-2173
http://www.redraiders.com/stories/061005/tra_061005023.shtml
Texas Tech men's relay team sets new record in 1,600
BY PATRICK GONZALES
A-J SPORTS EDITOR
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Texas Tech capped its second day at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with quite a bang.
In fact, it was probably heard around the world.
The Tech men's 1,600-meter relay won its heat in the preliminary round Thursday with a 3:01.69, good enough for a school and Hornet Stadium record and the fastest time in the world this year.
The previous best in the world came during the Texas Relays in April, when United States "Red" - anchored by two-time gold medalist Jeremy Wariner - won the event in a time of 3:01.91.
The relay was run by four juniors - Johnny Jacob, Michael Mathieu, Terry Beard and Andrae Williams.
"I'm just flabbergasted," Tech coach Wes Kittley said. "I wish I knew how to bottle that up for (the final) Saturday, because that was just awesome. We just beat our school record to death, and to be the fastest in the world right now is just incredible."
Tech sophomore Bryan Scott advanced to the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles despite running a sub-par race in the preliminaries of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Scott finished third in his heat - one spot short of receiving an automatic pass to the next round - but his time of 51.02 ranked 14th out of the 16 runners who moved on.
"It's a blessing, because I didn't think my time was going to be good enough," said Scott, a former Estacado standout. "I didn't even get past the first round last year, so this is an improvement."
Scott, however, didn't know he moved on until several minutes after the race. So disgusted with his performance, he left Hornet Stadium to cool down on the nearby practice track.
It was there where a Tech coach gave him the good news.
"I was very surprised," Scott said. "I'm just happy to get a second chance. My first race at every meet is probably my roughest so, hopefully, I'll come out with a stronger performance."
Tech senior Jonathan Johnson did just that Thursday to finish second in his 800-meter heat and automatically advance to Saturday's final.
Johnson, the defending national champion in the event, cruised to a 1:48.13 during Wednesday's preliminary round. He pushed the pace Thursday then coasted the final 20 meters to clock a 1:46.74 - the second fastest of the day.
"I wanted to take the race out pretty fast, so I could get a feel of how the pace is going to be Saturday," Johnson said. "I had a lot left for the final 200, but there was no reason for me to try and win the race. All I needed to do was finish in the top three and advance."
Scott's and Johnson's advancement gives the Red Raiders continued hope at surpassing their eighth-place team finish at the national meet a year ago.
Their chances at a national championship, however, are more than likely gone.
Kittley said before the meet that his team would have to perform above expectations in a handful of events. That strategy took a major hit when Tyree Gailes failed to advance out of the first round in the 200.
Gailes had a similar result in the 100, an event in which he placed fourth at the national meet a year ago, on Wednesday but was expected to do better in the 200 and score points for the Red Raiders.
Instead, he finished fifth in his heat - one spot away from automatically advancing - in a time of 21.06. The top 18 athletes in the event advanced to the semifinals, and Gailes finished with the 20th-best time.
Gailes has been suffering from turf toe the last few weeks.
"I feel disappointed for him," Kittley said. "We thought he would be healthy enough to compete well in the 200, but I guess he just didn't feel right. It's said that he had to end his senior year like that."
On the women's side, Tech junior Althea Chambers just missed qualifying for the final in the 800. She finished fifth in her heat and 10th overall, but only the top eight athletes in the event advanced to Saturday's final.
Tech junior Brionne Yosten ran a season best 4:22.81 in the first round of the 1,500, but it wasn't enough to advance to the next round.
Lacy Wilson, a sophomore, ended her first national meet in disappointing fashion, failing to qualify for the final in the high jump.
Wilson, who won the Midwest Regional two weeks ago and set a school record earlier this year at 6-03/4, cleared just 5-93/4 on Wednesday.
The cutoff height for the qualifiers was 5-103/4, which Wilson failed to clear in three attempts.
"There have been a few disappointments, but you're going to have those in every track meet," Kittley said. "The key is to put those behind you and focus on what you can do next. We're still a young group and no matter what happens, we're getting some big-time experience."
There were a handful of events in which Tech athletes competed in that weren't done by press time, including the preliminaries in the women's 1,600 relay, women's long jump final (Tori Polk) and women's 10,000 meters final (Violet Chemakwila).
To comment on this story:
patrick.gonzales@lubbockonline.com 766-8735
doug.hensley@lubbockonline.com 766-2173
)