March 1, 1999

LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech track and field program has qualified two individuals and one relay team to compete in the NCAA indoor national championships on March 5-6 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

On the men's side Shameron Turner in the 200 meters and the 4X400 relay team of Turner, Desmond Johnson, Josephus Howard and Rohan McDonald will make the trip after their provisional qualifying times were determined to be good enough to qualify for the meet.

Turner qualified for the meet after running a time of 20.98 at the Rocky Mountain Cup on February 9 at the United State Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. His time was the 10th fastest run in Division I this season. In Turner's last race in the event, he took fourth at the Big 12 Championships with a time of 21.67.

The men's 4X400 relay became the first team from Texas Tech since 1986 to be selected to compete in the event. Their time of 3:08.66 at the Cannon IV Classic on February 14 was the 11th fastest in the nation this indoor season. With three former indoor All-America performers in Johnson, Howard and McDonald joining with Turner, they should have an excellent chance of earning All-America status in the race.

"One of our goals for the indoor season was to be in a situation where we could qualify our relay team for the NCAA indoor championships," Director of Track and Field Greg Sholars said. "I was very happy to see them along with Shameron and Leigh qualify for the meet. All of them have had some of their best practices of the season this week, and I feel will make a strong showing for Texas Tech this weekend."

Leigh Daniel in the 5,000 meters comes into this weekend's competition as the Red Raiders sole automatic qualifier. Daniel's time of 9:36.85 at the Cannon IV Classic currently ranks as the third best in the nation and the top time ever run in the women's 5,000 meters at Texas Tech. She was also the Big 12 champion in the event.

"Leigh has an excellent opportunity to win the race," distance coach David Smith said. "The top eight women in the race have all run similar times which should make for a exciting race. If she can run a great race and gets some breaks, she has a chance to win the championship."