Things have been so crazy for me in the last 2 weeks that I did not get to talk about the first Albu meet last weekend (Jan 28-29). Here are some highlights from that meet:
Here are some highlights to watch for:
- First and foremost, the spectacular meet for Viershanie Latham - first she long jumps 19-0.5 a new PR for her; then she runs a PR of 7.62 in the 60, making our best short sprinter at this time a jumper; then, she tops off her weekend by triple jumping 42-9.75, a new school record! She also moved into the #1 spot in the Big 12 and #9 in all of D-I and certainly secured a place at the national meet (which is based exclusively on the season-long performance list). What a weekend for Viershanie!
- Joseph Richards ran an indoor PR in the 400 of 46.39 to move up to the #1 spot in the Big 12 and #4 spot in D-I, he will certainly be running in the national meet as well. I love seeing Joseph having a wildly successful senior campaign.
- The best female sprinter for Tech this year is a last-minute recruiting addition that was not even announced by the school - Sara Limp from Los Alamitos, CA. Prior to this Albu meet, she already had the fastest 200 time for Tech and the fastest 60 time on the year (until Viershanie eclipsed it), but she goes out at Albu and runs a 55.13 PR in the 400 and moves into the #5 spot in the Big 12.
- Kyle Collins also ran a PR in the 400 that was almost 1 full second ahead of her previous indoor best - a 46.84 that puts him at #4 in the Big 12 and #17 in D-I, certainly in the running for a national berth. Kyle was a stalwart on the 4x400 last year, but it is good to see him competing so well in the open 400
- Natalie Thompson is having a banner senior year - at Albu, she set a new PR in the high jump of 5-10, which is #3 in the Big 12. She also ran a PR of 8.93 in the 60 hurdles. She looks primed for a PR indoor pentathlon this weekend in Lincoln.
- Charles (CJ) Jones is a beast this year - at Albu he ran a PR in the 600 of 1:17.67, which puts him #2 in the Big 12 in the 600 yard run with a conversion time. He is also still ranked #1 in the Big 12 in the 800 - the coaches will have a lot of options with him at the conference meet.
- Alexis Lewis has been learning how to throw the weight throw indoors for 3 years now - a redshirt year in 2014 and last year as a RS freshman. It all came together for her last weekend, as she threw 58-6.5, a PR by almost 5 full feet. She is ranked #8 in the Big 12 in an event that is really loaded in the Big 12
- Kyle Thompson only has one more indoor season left (no outdoor) that was set up when he missed the indoor season 2 years ago with an injury. Last week, he vaults over 17 feet for the first time this year (17-1), to move to #5 in the Big 12 and #28 in D-I. Tech has a terrific 1-2 punch in the vault with Kyle and freshman Brandon Bray
Here are some highlights to watch for:
- Tech will see their powerful women's pentathlon group for the first time this year - Natalie Thompson, freshman phenom Kaylee Hinton, Amani Nesmith and Andi Morgan. As I suspected, Shanice Stewart, last year's runnerup in the Big 12 indoor pentathlon, will NOT be competing in the multi, but will concentrate on the 60 hurdles and LJ -- she will not be needed with the potential points that the other women can generate. On the men's side, JC transfer Michael Samuels (the JC national champ in the outdoor decathlon) and Erin Lopez will tackle the indoor heptathlon this weekend. I am excited to see what Erin may be able to do - I don't think he could ever contribute significantly for Tech in the LJ or TJ, so I am excited to see his desire to contribute via the multi
- Also in Lincoln, Tech will have Shanice Stewart in the 60 hurdles and LJ; Gionna Jackson and Viershanie Lathm in the LJ and TJ; and freshman wunderkind Charles Brown in the LJ and TJ.
- Look for big things from Chris Caldwell in the 60 hurdles in Albu - he ran well there last week and no doubt wants to win his #1 spot in the nation back (he held it for 2 weeks in the early season)
- Freshmen Andrew Hudson and Corey Dauphine are both running the 60 and 200. Corey progressed each of his first 2 weeks and we want to see that continued progression. Andrew is ranked much higher in the Big 12 (5th in the 60 and 6th in the 200), but had a poor meet last week. This week we see how he responds to a little adversity.
- Tech really needs to see some good things this week from transfer Marika Brown and freshmen Talajah Murrell and Tiffani Johnson in the 60 and 200. This week Sara Limp (see above in the highlights from last week), will also run the 60 and 200 this week.
- Bradley Adkins is high jumping this week - I suspect we will see a big improvement from Bradley this week. Trey Culver is taking off this weekend, continuing his cycle of jumping one week and taking off the next.
