The order that I am using for the Red Raider T&F previews this year goes like this: 1) Sprints; 2)Throws; 3) Distance (Steeple, 5K, 10K); 4) Middle Distance (800, 1500); 5) Jumps/vault/multis; and 6) hurdles. The distance program has not been very strong at Tech in the past few years. In fact, Tech did not score a single point at the Big 12 outdoors meet in the long distances for the men or the women (however, Tech was redshirting its best male and female distance runner last year). BUT, this year there is definitely potential for scoring at the conference level.
NOTE: I have separated the long distance from the middle distance (800-1500), which will be the next area I will preview and Tech is incredibly STRONG in the middle distances.
MEN - Tech men did not score a point in the long distances last year at the Big 12 meet, but a big part of that was that Miguel Bautista was redshirting. There were 4 Red Raiders who ran at conference who are gone from last year -- Reagan Mead (9th in the steeple, but still 16 seconds out of 8th place); Clark Blunt (10th in the steeple); Ebenether Wondaferew (13th in the 10K); and Todd Mickey (16th in the 5K -- although he did score indoors in the mile in 2017).
RETURNING POINT SCORERS: Miguel Bautista get 8th in the 10K in 2017, which that performance was actually disappointing, I thought he would score top-5. BUT, that still gives Tech a guy who could run top-5 in the 5K and/or the 10K at the Big 12 meet.
OTHER RETURNEES: Cornelius Kiprotich leads this pack -- he only ran 1 meet last year, the Texas Relays and he might have been able to get a medical RS for the year; Joacim Zuniga - 10th in the 5K, only a few seconds out of getting points; Shea Whatley - 15th in the 5K in 2017, but took a big step backwards in 2018; Stephen Alvarez, Connor Hughes, Grant LaSelle, and Michael Benoit -- none of them ran at last year's Big 12 meet, but they could potentially run there in 2019.
NEWCOMERS: Luke Estes, the freshman from San Antonio Christian (2nd TAPPS 5A 1600, 3200) showed some potential in XC; and Bennett Barnett, the freshman from OKC Mt St Mary's (1st OK 3A 1600, 3200) also might have some long-term potential.
WOMEN - did not score any points at conference and really did not have anyone who came real close to scoring. BUT, Tech had our best distance runner (JC transfer Nokuthula Dlamini) redshirting and she should be a big scorer this year. The only 2 graduates were Jasmine Torres (12th in the steeple) and Hattie Schunk (10th in the 10K, but still more than 30 seconds out of 8th place).
RETURNEES: Brett Leigh Nance is now a junior and she did not run at the conference meet at all last year, but she showed terrific improvement in XC and she might be conference competitive.
REDSHIRTS: Nokuthula Dlamini ran XC and indoor track in her first year at Tech (2017-18) and then redshirted 2018 outdoors and XC this past fall. While she only finished 11th in the mile indoors last year, she is capable of being top-5 in the 5K indoors and outdoors.
NEWCOMERS: Daisy Kibet -- I know nothing about her after she showed up on the TRRRS site (the site that schools use to make their entries for the track season), except, she has a Kenyan name and that gets me excited; Seselia Dala, the transfer from South Plains who prepped at Amarillo Caprock HS -- at the JC national meet, she got 4th in the 10K and 5th in the 5K -- she is a true long-distance specialist; and Natalie Gomez, freshman from El Paso Socorro who was the district runner-up in 1600, 3200.
On the men's side, there are probably 3 runners capable of scoring at conference (Bautista, Zuniga and Kiprotich) and on the women's side, probably 3 as well (Dlamini, Kibet and Dala). It Tech can garner 6-10 points in each gender in the conference meet, it will be a big bonus this year.
In 5-6 days, I will post the preview on the middle distance and particularly on the men's side, that is a HUGE area of strength for the Red Raiders.
NOTE: I have separated the long distance from the middle distance (800-1500), which will be the next area I will preview and Tech is incredibly STRONG in the middle distances.
MEN - Tech men did not score a point in the long distances last year at the Big 12 meet, but a big part of that was that Miguel Bautista was redshirting. There were 4 Red Raiders who ran at conference who are gone from last year -- Reagan Mead (9th in the steeple, but still 16 seconds out of 8th place); Clark Blunt (10th in the steeple); Ebenether Wondaferew (13th in the 10K); and Todd Mickey (16th in the 5K -- although he did score indoors in the mile in 2017).
RETURNING POINT SCORERS: Miguel Bautista get 8th in the 10K in 2017, which that performance was actually disappointing, I thought he would score top-5. BUT, that still gives Tech a guy who could run top-5 in the 5K and/or the 10K at the Big 12 meet.
OTHER RETURNEES: Cornelius Kiprotich leads this pack -- he only ran 1 meet last year, the Texas Relays and he might have been able to get a medical RS for the year; Joacim Zuniga - 10th in the 5K, only a few seconds out of getting points; Shea Whatley - 15th in the 5K in 2017, but took a big step backwards in 2018; Stephen Alvarez, Connor Hughes, Grant LaSelle, and Michael Benoit -- none of them ran at last year's Big 12 meet, but they could potentially run there in 2019.
NEWCOMERS: Luke Estes, the freshman from San Antonio Christian (2nd TAPPS 5A 1600, 3200) showed some potential in XC; and Bennett Barnett, the freshman from OKC Mt St Mary's (1st OK 3A 1600, 3200) also might have some long-term potential.
WOMEN - did not score any points at conference and really did not have anyone who came real close to scoring. BUT, Tech had our best distance runner (JC transfer Nokuthula Dlamini) redshirting and she should be a big scorer this year. The only 2 graduates were Jasmine Torres (12th in the steeple) and Hattie Schunk (10th in the 10K, but still more than 30 seconds out of 8th place).
RETURNEES: Brett Leigh Nance is now a junior and she did not run at the conference meet at all last year, but she showed terrific improvement in XC and she might be conference competitive.
REDSHIRTS: Nokuthula Dlamini ran XC and indoor track in her first year at Tech (2017-18) and then redshirted 2018 outdoors and XC this past fall. While she only finished 11th in the mile indoors last year, she is capable of being top-5 in the 5K indoors and outdoors.
NEWCOMERS: Daisy Kibet -- I know nothing about her after she showed up on the TRRRS site (the site that schools use to make their entries for the track season), except, she has a Kenyan name and that gets me excited; Seselia Dala, the transfer from South Plains who prepped at Amarillo Caprock HS -- at the JC national meet, she got 4th in the 10K and 5th in the 5K -- she is a true long-distance specialist; and Natalie Gomez, freshman from El Paso Socorro who was the district runner-up in 1600, 3200.
On the men's side, there are probably 3 runners capable of scoring at conference (Bautista, Zuniga and Kiprotich) and on the women's side, probably 3 as well (Dlamini, Kibet and Dala). It Tech can garner 6-10 points in each gender in the conference meet, it will be a big bonus this year.
In 5-6 days, I will post the preview on the middle distance and particularly on the men's side, that is a HUGE area of strength for the Red Raiders.
