Texas Tech track and field teams start NCAA postseason at Arkansas
The Texas Tech men's and women's track and field teams, coming off second- and third-place finishes, respectively, at the Big 12 outdoor championships, begin the first rounds of NCAA competition Wednesday.
The NCAA outdoor championships are June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, but to get there all athletes must qualify through regional competition. Texas Tech is in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the West preliminaries, and Lexington, Kentucky, is the site of the East preliminaries.
In most events at each site, fields of 48 athletes in individual events will be trimmed to 12 who qualify for Eugene. The men compete on Wednesday and Friday, the women on Thursday and Saturday.
Texas Tech's top weapon Terrence Jones didn't make it
The Tech men won the NCAA indoor championship in March in Boston, but three-time NCAA champion Terrence Jones failed to qualify for the outdoor championships in the 100 or 200 meters.
The senior from the Bahamas won the 60 meters and the 200 meters indoors, but a lingering hamstring injury sidelined him nearly all spring. He didn't compete in an individual race until two weeks ago at the Big 12 championships, and his times in the 100 and the 200 didn't crack the top 48 in the West.
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Jones scored 20 of Tech's 50 1/2 points in Boston and 10 of its 29 at the 2023 NCAA indoor meet. Though he still can run on the 400-meter relay, his absence from the 100 and 200 effectively dashes the Red Raiders' chances of winning another national championship in June.
"It hurts. There's no doubt about it," Tech coach Wes Kittley said. "We can't sugar coat that at all. Not having him in the 100 and the 200 is going to be a real big blow.
"We're going to have to have a lot of our kids that maybe haven't stepped up as much step up more to try to make up for that. Then you hope — and you don't want to wish bad things on anybody — but everybody else maybe not have their best meet for us to have a chance."
Texas Tech men's outlook
The Red Raiders have 34 entries in individual events, plus the 400- and 1,600-meter relays. However, 11 of those entries are ranked, by season bests, among the top 12 in the West. Nationally, 96 athletes in each event, the 48 at each regional, are still in competition, and eight ultimately can score points at national.
Tech men in the top eight in NCAA Division I are Ernest Cheruiyot, second in the 10,000 meters; Caleb Dean and Oskar Edlund, fourth and sixth in the 400-meter hurdles; Stacy Brown Jr., eighth in the triple jump; and Antoine Andrews, eighth in the 110 hurdles.
Tech's 400-meter relay is ranked No. 3 in the West and No. 9 in Division I without Jones. Kittley said it's not a tough decision to put him back on it.
"He will be anchoring every time," Kittley said. "He's going to be fine. I think you'll see him running 10-flat type stuff by the time we get through regionals and get to the NCAA, so we definitely need him on the anchor."
Texas Tech women's outlook
The Tech women have 29 entries in individual events, plus both relays. They have 12 in the top 12 in the region and three in the top eight in NCAA Division I. The three are Ruta Lasmane and Anne-Suzanna Fosther-Katta, second and fifth in the triple jump, and Temitope Adeshina, sixth in the high jump.
Lasmane missed the Big 12 championships with mononucleosis, but resumed training and is expected to compete in Fayetteville. She's a six-time first-team all-American and won her first NCAA title this year at the indoor championships.
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Who else could score in Eugene?
Several more Tech women are outside the top eight in Division I, but in the top 15 and potential point getters at the national meet. Among them are freshman distance runner Juliet Cherubet in the 5,000 and 1,500 meters, Rosemary Chukwuma and Alyssa Colbert in the 100; and the 400-meter relay.
Tech men outside the top eight and inside the top 15 are Omamuyovwi Erhire in the high jump, Devin Roberson in the discus and both relays.
To score in Eugene, you have to get to Eugene. The regional rounds annually yield some stunning letdowns. Field-event athletes are especially vulnerable, getting three attempts.
"I'm hoping some of those that are the 12th or the 15th to the 20th still have the opportunity to get in the hunt," Kittley said. "I think the (message) to them is, 'You've got to get in there and be ready to go on your first jump or your first throw and put the pressure on the field.' "
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech track and field teams start NCAA postseason at Arkansas
