June 1, 2002

BATON ROUGE, La. - The 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships came to a close under very muggy conditions Saturday night at Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge, La., with the 1,600-meter relays.

The relay was Texas Tech's last chance to add to its point total and produce three more All-Americans as well as give Jonathan his second honor of the outdoor season.

Tech entered the final day in a tie for 28th place with five points. The most points that the men had ever scored coming into the meet was 11in 1990 and 1997.

Freshman Albert Booker got things off to an explosive start running a 400-meter split time of 45.93 before giving way to junior Julieon Raeburn. Raeburn showed his breakaway speed around the second turn and put the Red Raiders in the lead. He would hold that lead through the third and fourth turns and pass the baton off to freshman Ivory McCann in a time of 46.06.

McCann had to break stride to make sure he got a clean hand-off, the extra stride would prove costly. With a split time of 46.60 the Houston, Texas, native managed to catch up with the pack through the fourth turn. But the extra energy needed to catch up showed over the final 30 meters.

McCann handed off to freshman Jonathan Johnson who had to maneuver through runners who had already passed off the stick. Johnson still managed to post a team-fast split time of 45.71 but was never able to fight for the lead.

The seventh place time of 3:04.40 has only been bettered once in school history when the Red Raider team posted a 3:03.88 at the Mount Sac Relays in 1986.

In earning two points for their efforts Tech finishes in 35th place with seven points, marking the first time since 1997 that the men have scored at the national meet.