This is a unique indoor home season for the Red Raiders -- Tech will host 7 home meets, then go to conference at Iowa State and several Red Raiders will no doubt then go to nationals in College Station. Everybody wants to come run on the new Tech track and the coaches have the luxury of using different formats so the Tech athletes do not get "stale". This week, Tech hosts TWO home meets. The Friday meet will mostly be D-II, D-III, JC, and NAIA schools. But, Tech is competing a few athletes in the Friday mix -- mostly 2nd/3th team kids who are getting low-key season debuts.
Then, on Saturday, Tech will host a meet composed entirely of D-I schools and it is another good line-up of schools -- UT, OU, ACU, Incarnate Word, Louisiana-Monroe, LA Tech, UNT, Sam Houston State, UTA and UTEP. There will also be some outstanding unattached athletes. The US Olympic Committee is paying to have some of the top American multi-athletes come to Lubbock because they want them to get qualifying marks for the world championships in March. Tech will benefit by getting fantastic competition for our good, young multi-athletes.
Here are some of the interesting storylines to follow at the meet:
Then, on Saturday, Tech will host a meet composed entirely of D-I schools and it is another good line-up of schools -- UT, OU, ACU, Incarnate Word, Louisiana-Monroe, LA Tech, UNT, Sam Houston State, UTA and UTEP. There will also be some outstanding unattached athletes. The US Olympic Committee is paying to have some of the top American multi-athletes come to Lubbock because they want them to get qualifying marks for the world championships in March. Tech will benefit by getting fantastic competition for our good, young multi-athletes.
Here are some of the interesting storylines to follow at the meet:
- The male heptathlon and the female pentathlon will be terrific events with some of the top American multi-athletes providing world-class competition for Tech athletes. Erin Lopez and Clark Griffith in the heptathlon and Kaylee Hinton (All-American in the outdoor women's heptathlon last year), super-freshman G'Auna Edwards, and Rose Njoku will get to test themselves against stellar fields that will also include some terrific collegiate multi-athletes.
- Many of the sprinters will take this week off after competing the past weeks -- Divine Oduduru, Andrew Hudson, Steven Champlin for the men and Daja Gordon, Kyla Glenn, and Mackenzie Frank will sit this one out. There is simply no need to run everyone every weekend.
- There will be a few season debuts -- Josiah MacInnis in the 200 and Dalton Rigdon in the LJ are of particular interest to me.
- Norman Grimes will be running the 60 hurdles for the first time this year. Maygen Smith will run the 800 for the first time after 2 weeks of running the 600 yard run.
- I have heard that outstanding halfmiler Charles (CJ) Jones is fighting with a shin injury, but he is close to 100% healthy. He is not running this weekend, so I guess the coaches are waiting another week to let him heal.
- I do have some questions: Here it is the 3rd indoor meet and we have not seen the top freshman recruit for the men, Sean Hooper -- where is he? Why is Colten Gayle not competing in the men's heptathlon? Is I'Shunique Hamilton redshirting indoors after she had to RS this past outdoors season due to injury? I will ask around at the meets this weekend and see if I can find out anything.
