Mar. 1, 1998

Tech tracksters get one last chance
Texas Techs mens and womens track and field teams will have one last opportunity to earn a bid to the 1998 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 13-14. The teams will attend a last chance meet, giving the individuals one more attempt to achieve a provisional or automatic qualification mark. Those who earn a provisional mark move on to nationals based on the number of spots available to compete. This year, the Tech squad will head to either the LSU Last Ditch effort on March 6 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana or travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas for the National Qualifiers Meet the same day. The squad may be split to send individuals to the meet that will best suit their events.

Red Raider rewind
The Texas Tech track and field teams concluded competition Saturday at the 1998 Big 12 Indoor Championships at Iowa State Univ. in Ames, Iowa. Held at the Lied Recreational Facility, Nebraska claimed the mens team title and Texas earned the womens championship at the two-day meet. The Red Raiders return with an 11th place womens performance and tied for ninth with Kansas on the mens side.

Junior transfer Evette Turner was Techs lone Big 12 conference champion. Turner clocked a time of 4:45.72 in the mile for first place, setting a new Big 12 meet record and qualifying provisionally for the NCAA championships in March. She is Tech first womens indoor conference champion since 1985 when Maria Media claimed the SWC title in the mile, and only the second all time. Her time also moves her into second on the Tech all-time list. In the triple jump, junior Kaneshia Polk advanced to the final round Saturday, placing 6th at the meet. Her leap of 40 feet, five inches marked a new season best and career best. Teammate Crystal Harlan also put forth a strong performance, leaping 5-7 in the high jump to tie at fifth. Harlan has already qualified provisionally for the national meet. Also on the womens side, sophomore Dawn Charlier crossed the line in fifth place in the 1000 meters, with a time of 2:52.93, and the distance medley relay team took fourth.

The mens 4x400 relay team had a strong finish at the meet, with a third place finish in an NCAA provisional time of 3:07.53. Composed of Scott Jesko, Desmond Johnson, Shameron Turner and Rohan McDonald, the squad recorded the fastest time of the season, and less than two seconds shy of the Tech record. The unit was also just three seconds behind champion Baylor. Junior Michael Njenga, who took second Friday in the 5,000 meters, also earned a second place showing in the 3,000. Njenga qualified provisionally for the NCAA meet with a time of 8:06.16 in the event. In the mens 400 meters, Tech took two of the top five spots. Rohan McDonald placed third with a time of 46.49, a new season best and a new Texas Tech record as well as an NCAA provisional mark. Desmond Johnson also qualified provisionally with a time of 46.87 in the 400 final.

Texas Tech Men: t9th
Shameron Turner, 7th, 200 M
Rohan McDonald, 3rd, 400 M
Desmond Johnson, 4th, 400 M
Michael Njenga, 2nd, 3000 M
Michael Njenga, 2nd, 5000 M
4x400 Relay, 3rd

Texas Tech Women: 11th
Amber Affeldt, 8th, 600 Yds.
Dawn Charlier, 5th, 1000 M
Evette Turner, 1st, Mile
Leigh Daniel, 14th, 3000 M
Lori Knowles, 28th, 3000 M
Kristen Koppes, 32nd, 3000 M
Leigh Daniel, 7th, 5000 M
Ami Peters, 8th, 55 Hurdles
Distance Medley Relay, 4th
Kaneshia Polk, 6th, Triple Jump
Crystal Harlan, 5th, High Jump

Josephus Howard moves into record book
Sophomore sprinter Josephus Howard earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held March 13-14 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Howard recorded a time of 20.51 seconds in the 200 meters in the Rocky Mountain Cup at the US Air Force Academy, breaking the Texas Tech record, the meet record and the track record. At the meet, he beat Kevin Little, the 1997 world indoor champion in the 200 who also holds the indoor record in the event and previously held the meet record. His time places him on top of the Big 12 Conference in the 200Howard also holds a spot on several outdoor records lists in the 200 and 100, including the third fastest in the world among juniors in the 200 with a time of 20.53Howards performance earned him Mens Athlete of the Week honors from Trackwire. The publication can be reached online at www.trackwire.com.

The year of the relay
The Texas Tech relay teams have left the competition the dust this season. In the first four meets of the season, at least one relay unit claimed first place. At the Red Raider Indoor Open, the womens mile relay finished first. It was the mens and womens distance medley relays earning titles at the Red Raider Indoor Invitational. Both mile relay squads took the crown at the Rocky Mountain Cup, and at the Bill Cosby Invitational, the mens 1600 relay and the womens distance medley relay each racked up top honors. At the Big 12 Championships, the mens 4x400 squad clocked their second NCAA provisional time to earn third place, while the womens distance medley team took fourth.

Heightened awareness
Altitude has been everything for the indoor track team this season. The first four meets the team competed in this season were at an elevation of 3,195 feet or greater. Special altitude adjustments are given to the NCAA qualifying marks, accounting for slower times in the distance events (5000, 3000, 1500, mile and distance medley relay). In two recent meets, the Tech runners have competed at elevations of 7,048 feet and 4,620 feet.The following is my weekly track report