May 20, 2000

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Texas Tech track and field teams continued competition at the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships today in Columbia, Mo. It was the second day of competition and the majority of events were preliminary rounds. The Red Raiders fared well, qualifying six athletes for the finals on Sunday.

Leading the way was Gezachw Yossef who qualified in both the 1,500 and 800-meter runs. His time of 3:51.68 in the 1,500 was the third fastest time in qualifying. He made the cut in the 800 with a time of 1:49.94.

Also on the men's side, Ty Williams earned the first points of the weekend for Tech with his eighth place finish in the shot put with a throw of 55'02". Desmond Johnson qualified for the men's 400-meter finals with his time of 46.50, the fourth best time in the event.

The women were led by Ngozi Iwu. Iwu had the day's second fastest time in the 800 (2:07.91) and qualified for Sunday's finals. Monique Wright-Cruse (11.71) and Tami Zachary (11.76) both qualified for the finals of the 100-meter dash and Melonie Barrow made the cut in the 400-meters with her time of 55.23.