The Texas Tech men's track and field team has so many talented sprinters that they can win the 400 meter relay in the first lineup and then in the second.
On Friday night, in Tech's final home meet of the regular season, Josh Barr, Sean Brown, Jack Marshall and Antwan Andrews ran a season-best time of 38.72 seconds to win the Corky/Crofoot Shootout.
Come Friday, three members of the Red Raiders' sprint relay lineup have posted times within the top 20 in NCAA Division I this year, with Jalen Drayden and three-time NCAA sprint champion Terrence Jones running the other team. was.
Jones has played just once this season and is not scheduled to play again until the Big 12 Championship. He has a mild strain in his hamstring, and coaches have no intention of not putting him through a long outdoor season that could include Big 12 and NCAA regionals and the Olympics after nationals. Drayden felt the pressure on Thursday.
Still, Friday's lineup ran the sixth-fastest 400-meter relay in program history.
“I was really happy,” Tech coach Wes Kitley said. “It's going to be hard to change the lineup in the Big 12 because the Big 12 is a very good small group. But we'll see.”
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Barr is a junior from Lawton, Oklahoma, Brown is a junior from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Marshall is a senior from Brady, and Andrews is a sophomore from Nassau, Bahamas.
Even when converting elevation to account for Lubbock's 3,200-foot elevation, the Red Raiders' run time on Friday would rank fifth in Division I this year, but at games elsewhere this weekend. The results are awaited.
Kitley said he wasn't surprised by his 38.72 score.
“I think we have seven or eight guys who can run 38 meters,” he said. “I think if you put Terrence on a good stick (change), he can run in the low 38 flats.”
Last year, the Tech lineup of Adam Clayton, Courtney Lindsay, Dondre Swint and Jones ran an outdoor Big 12 time of 38.24 seconds, tied for third in Division I in 2023. Jones is the only person left from that group. Swint exhausted his outdoor eligibility last year and ended his college career in March as a key player on the Red Raiders' indoor national championship team.
Andrews and Tech's Devonte Ford finished 1-2 in the 110-meter hurdles with wind-regulated times of 13.49 and 13.61, respectively. Tech American Vashawn Vasianna was scheduled to compete for the first time in two years, but was delayed as a precaution due to hamstring discomfort.
In 2022, Bastiana won the Indoor Big 12 60-meter hurdles and placed fourth at the NCAA Championships. He suffered a torn hip labrum in April 2022, underwent surgery in Vail, Colorado, and has not raced since.
“He looked great (in training),” Kitley said. “He looked good today in warm-ups. He's made progress over the last three weeks.”
If Vasianna returns to form, the Red Raiders could have a formidable hurdler. He, Andrews and Caleb Dean all achieved first-team All-American status during their careers, meaning a top-eight finish at the NCAA national tournament.
Highlights for the Tech women include a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 meters by Alyssa Colbert (10.96), Rosemary Chukwuma (10.97) and Success Umukoro (11.23); That included a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 meters (22.96 seconds). , Serena Clark (23.31), Umukoro (23.42). At 100, the wind speed was 4.1 meters per second, well above the legal limit, while at 200, it was 0.7 meters per second, well within the legal limit.
In the 100 hurdles, Tech's Destiny Smith and Naomi Krebs took first and second with wind-assisted times of 12.92 and 12.94.
The competition concludes Saturday, with the distance run scheduled for 7:30 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. and remaining field events with start times scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
