The Big 12 track meet starts in 12 hours and this should be a very good weekend for the Red Raiders! The men are the odds-on favorites to win the title and the women are much improved and would be very disappointing to finish outside the top-3. Here are my predictions:
MEN - if the Tech men had loaded up every event, there was a realistic that they could have won by a stunning margin, something like a 100 points. However, because the Red Raiders ARE so deep in several events, they will only enter some of the studs in only 1-2 events, instead of 2-3 events. For example, Divine Oduduru and Andrew Hudson are ranked #1 and #2 in both the 100 and 200, but Divine will run only the 100 and Andrew will run only the 200. I still think the Red Raiders will score something like 170-180 points, with UT, Iowa State, Kansas and Okie State all scoring in the 90-105 range. Baylor and OU should score around 70-75 points. TCU and K-State fighting for the bottom spot scoring around 45-55 points.
Tech has a realistic chance of scoring in every event in the meet, except the 110H, where they do not have an entry. Here are the Tech entries, to give you an idea of how loaded the Tech team is (the # in parentheses shows the current ranking):
MEN - if the Tech men had loaded up every event, there was a realistic that they could have won by a stunning margin, something like a 100 points. However, because the Red Raiders ARE so deep in several events, they will only enter some of the studs in only 1-2 events, instead of 2-3 events. For example, Divine Oduduru and Andrew Hudson are ranked #1 and #2 in both the 100 and 200, but Divine will run only the 100 and Andrew will run only the 200. I still think the Red Raiders will score something like 170-180 points, with UT, Iowa State, Kansas and Okie State all scoring in the 90-105 range. Baylor and OU should score around 70-75 points. TCU and K-State fighting for the bottom spot scoring around 45-55 points.
Tech has a realistic chance of scoring in every event in the meet, except the 110H, where they do not have an entry. Here are the Tech entries, to give you an idea of how loaded the Tech team is (the # in parentheses shows the current ranking):
- 100 - Divine Oduduru (1), Keion Sutton (8), Jacolby Shelton (11), Derrius Rodgers (18), Kesean Carter (NR) - both Kesean and Derrius have only run one time this season and they could both have legit chances to make the finals
- 200 - Andrew Hudson (2), Keion Sutton (16), Josiah MacInnis (28)
- 400 - Lavone Brown (17), Isaac Marquez (24)
- 800 - Jonah Koech (4), Vincent Crisp (5), Sven Cepus (8)
- 1500 - Jonah Koech (2)
- 5K - Cornelius Kiprotich (21), Michael Benoit
- 10K - Michael Benoit (7)
- 110H - no Tech entries (freshman Robert Teer was apparently injured a few weeks ago)
- 400H - Norman Grimes (1), Caleb Richmond (14)
- Steeplechase - Cornelius Kiprotich (5), Connor Hughes (10)
- 4x1 (1)
- 4x4 (3)
- HJ - Jake Benninghoff (2), Jack Scarbrough (3), Jequan Hogan (5), Jack Cissne (9)
- PV - Drew McMichael (3), Brandon Bray (4)
- LJ - Odaine Lewis (1), Charles Brown (2), Justin Hall (4)
- TJ - Odaine Lewis (2), Jequan Brown (5), Charles Brown (6), Justin Hall (10), Jah-Nhai Perinchief (has not jumped this season)
- SP - Duke Kicinski (5), Braden Darrow (10)
- DT - Duke Kicinski (1), John Romanow (3)
- HT - Duke Kicinski (8)
- JT - Werner Bouwer (1), Axel Hubert (3)
- Decathlon - Axel Hubert
- The100 - D'Jenne Egharevba (4), Tiffani Johnson (6), Peyton Ricks (7), Robyn Byrd (9), Daja Gordon (19)
- 200 - Robyn Byrd (7), Tiffani Johnson (9), Peyton Ricks (11), D'Jenne Egharevba (25), Daja Gordon (has not run the 200 this year)
- 400 - Jadsia Warden (11)
- 800 - Maygen Smith (14), Jessica Gallardo (25)
- 1500 - Lauren Offerman (25)
- 5K - Nokuthula Dlamini (4), Seselia Dala (7)
- 10K - Seselia Dala (6)
- 100H - Alaysha Johnson (2), Rose Njoku (6), Ivy Walker (8), Kaylor Harris (14), Kyla Glenn (NR)
- 400H - Alaysha Johnson (2), Damajahnee Birch (3), Lexye Price (12)
- Steeplechase - Nokuthula Dlamini (8), Bret Leigh Nance (12) - but there are only 10 runners in the race
- 4x1 - 5th
- 4x4 - 5th
- HJ - Zarreia Willis (1)
- PV - Chloe Wall and Chinne Okoronkwo - tied for 5th
- LJ - Ivy Walker (2), Chelsey Cole (3), Talajah Murrell (5), Maya Evans (7)
- TJ - Chinne Okoronkwo (3), Chelsey Cole (5), Brianna Johnson (7)
- SP - Seasons Usual (10)
- DT - Seasons Usual (4), Happiness Okeke (6)
- HT - Dorleta Armendariz-Lasa (5), Seasons Usual (8)
- JT - no Tech entries
- Heptathlon - Rose Njoku (4), Tiara Williams (8)
