June 11, 2003

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Day one of the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships came to a close late Wednesday night with Texas Tech advancing Bobby Most and Jonathan Johnson to the next round of the pole vault and 800-meter run, respectively, while Tracie Akerhielm ended her season with a 17:59.36 showing in the 5,000.

Most will be the lone Red Raider in Friday night's pole vault finals as he was one of 15 athletes to clear 16-feet, 10.75-inches in today's qualifying round, while sophomore Jared Thornhill no-heighted. The vault was not without its share of surprises as the top three places in the Mid-West regional and the SEC Champion will not be in the finals.

Johnson advanced to tomorrow's semifinal round of the 800 today with a heat-winning time of 1:48.10. The semifinal round will be without a pair of the favorites as Tennessee's Marc Sylvester, who entered the championships with the top time in the NCAA, finished seventh in Johnson's heat and Alabama's Peter Etoot got caught up in traffic and fell. Neither will move on to the next round.

Thursday will see the Red Raiders play a much more active role as Tech is scheduled to competee in nine events including both the men and women's 1,600-meter relays.