I have been swamped at work and then traveled to Lubbock on Saturday for the Texas Tech Open. This is my first chance to post my impressions on what I saw on Saturday, plus general trends on the season.
TECH MEN - 21 good things and about 9 big question marks - the good stuff first
1) Omo Osaghae - this guy is a BEAST. He looks light years ahead of where he was 2 years ago when he "only" finished 2nd in the country in the 60 hurdles indoors. He obliterated his own school record this past weekend in the 110H - running a 13.29 (his record is a 13.49), but it won't count because the wind was 2/tenths over the allowable for a record. Omo looks like a man on a mission!
2) Julian Wruck - finishes 3rd at nationals in the discus as a 18-year-old freshman and this year he is FAR beyond last year. Just this past weekend, he broke 200 feet in both competitions - 203-0 in the Elite discus on Friday and 202-0 in the regular meet on Saturday. That is national championship kind of stuff.
3) Jamele Mason - what a weekend for Jamele - he breaks his PR in the 110H by 2/tenths, then comes back to run the race of his lifetime in the 400 hurdles, leading from the first hurdle to win the race and break Bryce Brown's school record by 1/hundredth of a second. Jamele has matured into one of the best hurdlers in the country.
4) Bryce Brown - speaking of Bryce, BB ran his typical race - waiting until halfway through the race to throw it into high gear. That was enough to win the Big 12 in 2010, but on Saturday he could not catch Jamele. Still, his time of 49.39 is the 2nd best time in the nation!
5) Gil Roberts - I still have not seen Gil run a 400 this entire season, but running a 10.33 in the 100 and a 20.65 in the 200 on Saturday, he looked great. His flat-out speed has really improved - he ran a 10.33 100 for gosh sakes! Now, if his endurance is back to 100%, Gil is ready to run some kind of scary time - something in the 44's in the quarter.
6) Shane Brathwaite - lost in that fantastic time of 13.29 for Omo was another superb time for Shane - a 13.58 in the 110 hurdles and later a solid time of 52.16 in the 400H. For 99% of hurdlers in the country, that would be a red-letter day! As Shane is getting back in shape, he is looking more like a serious threat come conference time.
7) Kyal Meyers - first time outdoors for the Big 12 pole vault champ and Kyal jumped well, going 16-8.75. He was eclipsed by ORU's Jack Whitt, who set a new stadium record with a 18-3.75 and barely missed at 18-9.25. And, we almost got Jack at Tech 2 years ago - it came down between Tech and ORU, where he is being coached by Joe Dial.
8) Brandon Tucker - Brandon looked terrific at TCU 2 weeks ago and has a little nagging injury, but he is still light years ahead of where he was last year.
9) Silas Kemboi - I would love to see Silas finish his Tech career with a flourish. He looks close to being really good - he ran a respectable 3:53.04 this past weekend in the 1500, but still needs to drop about 6-8 seconds to figure into the mix at conference.
10) Nick Tam - a walkon kid from Mineral Wells who has the look of a good high jumper. Went 6-8.75 last week and should see 6-10 or 6-11 soon.
11) Ryan McDowell - a former 5A state 110H champ who has had a hard time stepping up to the higher college hurdle. But, he looked pretty good this past Saturday, running a respectable time of 14.37, which should get him into the West Semi-final meet in May pretty easily.
12) Connor Hughey - a kid from a 3A school (Argyle) who sometimes seems totally lost in the college track world, then shows you just enough (running a 1:56.81) to keep you intrigued. Connor is a tall, lanky kid - he may be 6-4, 6-5 kid. If he can get stronger without losing speed, he could be a real steal.
13) Kole Weldon - my first chance to we the redshirt thrower this season. Weldon was a BIG high school quarterback at Jacksboro who went to Midwestern and decided he would rather be at Texas Tech and try to put his throwing skills to use on the track. Still really rough and spending this whole year redshirting, but his shot put of 50-8 and particularly his discus throw of 152-11 shows there might be something here.
14) Taheric Brantley and Ryan Pease - 2 walkon sprinters who show flashes of being able to help someday. Taheric has run 10.69/22.23/50.41 this year and Ryan has gone 22.33/50.91, not earth-shattering, but both seem willing to battle with more seasoned college runners.
15) Sam Bushong - still nowhere near conference competitive in the 5K, but a redshirt freshman who has improved by leaps and bounds in his 2 years at Tech, running a 15:47 last weekend.
16) Jeremy Doddridge - redshirting this year, I sure wish he was eligible this year. He seems to have past sophomore Boston Spiva for the #2 vaulter spot.
17) Casey Felton - I found out this past weekend that Casey has been switched over from the decathlon to being purely a thrower. He will probably be Tech's only javelin thrower and he is a decent discus man. Long ways to go, but he could help Tech in another year.
18) Robinson Sematai - came to school this semester woefully out of shape, but has some potential - 1:58.57 in the 800 and 3:58 in the 1500 so far. Of course, he will need to run more like 1:49 and 3:48 to do this team much good. I am eager to see if he begins to move toward those kinds of times in the next 3-4 weeks.
19) Chuck Zavala - the 5th year senior looks solid this year, but I want to see him in a decathlon BEFORE the conference meet.
20) The 4X400 relay has had three different combinations in 3 weeks. There is the potential of a 3:04-3:05 relay here, but everyone has to be healthy and ready to run!
Big questions, most around people who have not competed yet this outdoor season: Markus Henderson, Bryce Lamb, Gilbert Limo (paced the 1500 for 1000 meters on Saturday, then dropped out), Boston Spiva (not making the kind of progress he needs to make this year), Reid Strong, Dellon Williams, Latoy Williams (ran well at TCU and then pulled up in the 4X400 in Fort Worth and has not been seen since). I am eager to see the 4X100, but it won't happen until Markus Henderson is healthy. Apparently the relay will include Omo, Gil Roberts, Shane Brathwaite and Markus, which should be the fastest sprint relay at Tech in a few years.
WOMEN - lots of good stuff and fewer question marks
1) Candace Jackson - I used to think that Candace was a great "second-fiddle" as a sprinter. However, she has moved up into that first chair! This past weekend, she ran a 22.89 in the 200, which was only .04 off the conference winning time from 2 years ago. She is just getting better and better and may be the most valuable relay member on the Tech team!
2) Ifeatu Okafor - a good shot putter in 2010, she has become a GREAT shot putter AND discus thrower this year. I watched her in the shot put and she is explosive - moving incredible fast in the ring. Threw 53-9.75 in the shot and 174-0 in the discus against the OU kids, who are currently the best in the country.
3) Kelsey Lloyd - has become a great hurdler, setting the school record in the 100H and running well every week. I hope we get to see her run the 400H soon - I think she could win that event at conference. I am beginning to believe it is better for her to run only the hurdles and pass on the heptathlon this year.
4) Caroline Jepleting - ran great in the 800 on Saturday - only missing her own stadium record by less than 4/tenths. She looks ready to fight for the conference title in the half-mile.
5) Shade Weygandt - 2 weeks in a row at 13-11.25, I expect her to jump 14-3 to 14-6 in the next week or 2, when she gets some competition.
6) Taylor Evans - has begun to establish herself as a threat in the 200 and 400, instead of just the 400. She has improved her 200 PR each of the last 2 weeks.
7) Terra Evans - Terra runs a new PR in the 200, beating the time that almost got her into the finals at the national meet in that event and she still got beaten by over a yard by her own teammate, Candace Jackson. I hope that Terra responds by dropping her own time drastically.
8) Katie Grimes - has emerged as a conference contender in the 100H this year, dropping her PR 2 of the the first three weeks. She is another one who will probably forget about the heptathlon and concentrate on the hurdles this year.
9) Erica Alexander - after being a quartermiler last year, Erica is suddenly running excellent times in the 100 (11.34 this past weekend). Don't forget, she won the 5A 100, 200 and 400 while in high school, so she is an incredibly versatile sprinter.
10) The women's 4X100 ran faster than they ran getting 8th place at the national meet in 2010 in their 3rd meet of the year. This relay could be a top 5 contender this year at nationals and a top 2 contender at conference.
11)Devin Bailey - ran a PR in the 800 on Saturday, beating the time that got her 7th place at conference last year. And, Devin's continued development is crucial, as I will explain later on in this post.
12) Tara Thomas - wasted 2 years at University of Miami, but already returning to form as a college sprinter, running a 11.50 this past weekend. Tara provides great depth for Tech on the sprint relay.
13) Jamie Simanek - a walkon kid who has steadily improved over 3 years and then this past weekend suddenly blasted a 13.61 in the 110H and will probably qualify to run in the West Semi-final meet in Eugene this May. She could actually make the finals at conference - pretty cool stuff for Jamie!
14) Kelly Closse - has thrown well this year, but has been overshadowed by Ifeatu. Did not throw this past Saturday for some reason, but she is entered at the Texas Relays, so I hope to see her really have a big weekend in Austin.
15) Meshawn Graham - ran a PR in the 400 with a 55.57. Meshawn still look very close to being a conference contender, but she needs to step it up about a half-step.
16) Rachel Folan - a transfer from tiny St. Mary's of Minnesota, Rachel is redshirting this year. But, she ran pretty well on Saturday - there is definitely some potential there.
17) Kearci Jobe - running the best she has run in over 2 years. Kearci is another half-miler who needs to step it up to make up for some losses.
18) Adrienne LOng - a freshman from Mesquite Poteet who has shown a little ability in the discus, throwing 143-9 this past Saturday. Shows some potential.
19) Katherine Priebe - a senior who has improved in every meet this year - running PR's in 3 events in 2 weeks. I like seeing a senior step up and have a great final season.
20) Jessie Gibbs - ditto on Jessie, who had a PR in the pole vault two weeks ago and actually exceeded her previous PR again this past weekend. Could actually be in the hunt for points at the conference meet.
21) Kristyn Smith - a walkon kid who will probably never run at a conference meet, but who ran PR's this past Saturday in both the 200 and 400.
22) Roxie Greve - another walkon kid who smashed her PR in the 100H by over 4/tenths this past Saturday.
23) The women's 4X400 could be devastatingly good before the season is over, but they are not there yet. And, Tech will have to lean on 2, 3 or even 4 women to run on both relays - not ideal, but you want to put your best 3 on the relay.
Disappointments are few, but there are some HUGE disappointments! I found out this past weekend that Caroline Karunde and her twin, Winrose, have finished their eligibility at Tech. I thought they had one more outdoor season left and they represent 10-20 points at conference. And, Purity Biwott only have one indoor season left and NO outdoor eligibility - there is 8-12 more points down the drain. AND, Rose Tanui is being redshirted, so she will have one full year left - cross country, indoor and outdoor. OUCH!!!
A few kids have not competed this year: Amanda Dowdy (the volleyball all-star at Tech who can also high jump extremely well) and Tiffany Hines (the top recruit for Tech this past year). Not sure if Amanda will jump this year, but we should see Tiffany soon - she was entered in some events this past Saturday, but did not run.
All in all, both the men's and women's teams looked good last Saturday. In fact, there may be more national contenders on these teams than I have seen in a few years. There is probably not quite the depth for the conference meet as last year, but lots of potential for the national meet.
TECH MEN - 21 good things and about 9 big question marks - the good stuff first
1) Omo Osaghae - this guy is a BEAST. He looks light years ahead of where he was 2 years ago when he "only" finished 2nd in the country in the 60 hurdles indoors. He obliterated his own school record this past weekend in the 110H - running a 13.29 (his record is a 13.49), but it won't count because the wind was 2/tenths over the allowable for a record. Omo looks like a man on a mission!
2) Julian Wruck - finishes 3rd at nationals in the discus as a 18-year-old freshman and this year he is FAR beyond last year. Just this past weekend, he broke 200 feet in both competitions - 203-0 in the Elite discus on Friday and 202-0 in the regular meet on Saturday. That is national championship kind of stuff.
3) Jamele Mason - what a weekend for Jamele - he breaks his PR in the 110H by 2/tenths, then comes back to run the race of his lifetime in the 400 hurdles, leading from the first hurdle to win the race and break Bryce Brown's school record by 1/hundredth of a second. Jamele has matured into one of the best hurdlers in the country.
4) Bryce Brown - speaking of Bryce, BB ran his typical race - waiting until halfway through the race to throw it into high gear. That was enough to win the Big 12 in 2010, but on Saturday he could not catch Jamele. Still, his time of 49.39 is the 2nd best time in the nation!
5) Gil Roberts - I still have not seen Gil run a 400 this entire season, but running a 10.33 in the 100 and a 20.65 in the 200 on Saturday, he looked great. His flat-out speed has really improved - he ran a 10.33 100 for gosh sakes! Now, if his endurance is back to 100%, Gil is ready to run some kind of scary time - something in the 44's in the quarter.
6) Shane Brathwaite - lost in that fantastic time of 13.29 for Omo was another superb time for Shane - a 13.58 in the 110 hurdles and later a solid time of 52.16 in the 400H. For 99% of hurdlers in the country, that would be a red-letter day! As Shane is getting back in shape, he is looking more like a serious threat come conference time.
7) Kyal Meyers - first time outdoors for the Big 12 pole vault champ and Kyal jumped well, going 16-8.75. He was eclipsed by ORU's Jack Whitt, who set a new stadium record with a 18-3.75 and barely missed at 18-9.25. And, we almost got Jack at Tech 2 years ago - it came down between Tech and ORU, where he is being coached by Joe Dial.
8) Brandon Tucker - Brandon looked terrific at TCU 2 weeks ago and has a little nagging injury, but he is still light years ahead of where he was last year.
9) Silas Kemboi - I would love to see Silas finish his Tech career with a flourish. He looks close to being really good - he ran a respectable 3:53.04 this past weekend in the 1500, but still needs to drop about 6-8 seconds to figure into the mix at conference.
10) Nick Tam - a walkon kid from Mineral Wells who has the look of a good high jumper. Went 6-8.75 last week and should see 6-10 or 6-11 soon.
11) Ryan McDowell - a former 5A state 110H champ who has had a hard time stepping up to the higher college hurdle. But, he looked pretty good this past Saturday, running a respectable time of 14.37, which should get him into the West Semi-final meet in May pretty easily.
12) Connor Hughey - a kid from a 3A school (Argyle) who sometimes seems totally lost in the college track world, then shows you just enough (running a 1:56.81) to keep you intrigued. Connor is a tall, lanky kid - he may be 6-4, 6-5 kid. If he can get stronger without losing speed, he could be a real steal.
13) Kole Weldon - my first chance to we the redshirt thrower this season. Weldon was a BIG high school quarterback at Jacksboro who went to Midwestern and decided he would rather be at Texas Tech and try to put his throwing skills to use on the track. Still really rough and spending this whole year redshirting, but his shot put of 50-8 and particularly his discus throw of 152-11 shows there might be something here.
14) Taheric Brantley and Ryan Pease - 2 walkon sprinters who show flashes of being able to help someday. Taheric has run 10.69/22.23/50.41 this year and Ryan has gone 22.33/50.91, not earth-shattering, but both seem willing to battle with more seasoned college runners.
15) Sam Bushong - still nowhere near conference competitive in the 5K, but a redshirt freshman who has improved by leaps and bounds in his 2 years at Tech, running a 15:47 last weekend.
16) Jeremy Doddridge - redshirting this year, I sure wish he was eligible this year. He seems to have past sophomore Boston Spiva for the #2 vaulter spot.
17) Casey Felton - I found out this past weekend that Casey has been switched over from the decathlon to being purely a thrower. He will probably be Tech's only javelin thrower and he is a decent discus man. Long ways to go, but he could help Tech in another year.
18) Robinson Sematai - came to school this semester woefully out of shape, but has some potential - 1:58.57 in the 800 and 3:58 in the 1500 so far. Of course, he will need to run more like 1:49 and 3:48 to do this team much good. I am eager to see if he begins to move toward those kinds of times in the next 3-4 weeks.
19) Chuck Zavala - the 5th year senior looks solid this year, but I want to see him in a decathlon BEFORE the conference meet.
20) The 4X400 relay has had three different combinations in 3 weeks. There is the potential of a 3:04-3:05 relay here, but everyone has to be healthy and ready to run!
Big questions, most around people who have not competed yet this outdoor season: Markus Henderson, Bryce Lamb, Gilbert Limo (paced the 1500 for 1000 meters on Saturday, then dropped out), Boston Spiva (not making the kind of progress he needs to make this year), Reid Strong, Dellon Williams, Latoy Williams (ran well at TCU and then pulled up in the 4X400 in Fort Worth and has not been seen since). I am eager to see the 4X100, but it won't happen until Markus Henderson is healthy. Apparently the relay will include Omo, Gil Roberts, Shane Brathwaite and Markus, which should be the fastest sprint relay at Tech in a few years.
WOMEN - lots of good stuff and fewer question marks
1) Candace Jackson - I used to think that Candace was a great "second-fiddle" as a sprinter. However, she has moved up into that first chair! This past weekend, she ran a 22.89 in the 200, which was only .04 off the conference winning time from 2 years ago. She is just getting better and better and may be the most valuable relay member on the Tech team!
2) Ifeatu Okafor - a good shot putter in 2010, she has become a GREAT shot putter AND discus thrower this year. I watched her in the shot put and she is explosive - moving incredible fast in the ring. Threw 53-9.75 in the shot and 174-0 in the discus against the OU kids, who are currently the best in the country.
3) Kelsey Lloyd - has become a great hurdler, setting the school record in the 100H and running well every week. I hope we get to see her run the 400H soon - I think she could win that event at conference. I am beginning to believe it is better for her to run only the hurdles and pass on the heptathlon this year.
4) Caroline Jepleting - ran great in the 800 on Saturday - only missing her own stadium record by less than 4/tenths. She looks ready to fight for the conference title in the half-mile.
5) Shade Weygandt - 2 weeks in a row at 13-11.25, I expect her to jump 14-3 to 14-6 in the next week or 2, when she gets some competition.
6) Taylor Evans - has begun to establish herself as a threat in the 200 and 400, instead of just the 400. She has improved her 200 PR each of the last 2 weeks.
7) Terra Evans - Terra runs a new PR in the 200, beating the time that almost got her into the finals at the national meet in that event and she still got beaten by over a yard by her own teammate, Candace Jackson. I hope that Terra responds by dropping her own time drastically.
8) Katie Grimes - has emerged as a conference contender in the 100H this year, dropping her PR 2 of the the first three weeks. She is another one who will probably forget about the heptathlon and concentrate on the hurdles this year.
9) Erica Alexander - after being a quartermiler last year, Erica is suddenly running excellent times in the 100 (11.34 this past weekend). Don't forget, she won the 5A 100, 200 and 400 while in high school, so she is an incredibly versatile sprinter.
10) The women's 4X100 ran faster than they ran getting 8th place at the national meet in 2010 in their 3rd meet of the year. This relay could be a top 5 contender this year at nationals and a top 2 contender at conference.
11)Devin Bailey - ran a PR in the 800 on Saturday, beating the time that got her 7th place at conference last year. And, Devin's continued development is crucial, as I will explain later on in this post.
12) Tara Thomas - wasted 2 years at University of Miami, but already returning to form as a college sprinter, running a 11.50 this past weekend. Tara provides great depth for Tech on the sprint relay.
13) Jamie Simanek - a walkon kid who has steadily improved over 3 years and then this past weekend suddenly blasted a 13.61 in the 110H and will probably qualify to run in the West Semi-final meet in Eugene this May. She could actually make the finals at conference - pretty cool stuff for Jamie!
14) Kelly Closse - has thrown well this year, but has been overshadowed by Ifeatu. Did not throw this past Saturday for some reason, but she is entered at the Texas Relays, so I hope to see her really have a big weekend in Austin.
15) Meshawn Graham - ran a PR in the 400 with a 55.57. Meshawn still look very close to being a conference contender, but she needs to step it up about a half-step.
16) Rachel Folan - a transfer from tiny St. Mary's of Minnesota, Rachel is redshirting this year. But, she ran pretty well on Saturday - there is definitely some potential there.
17) Kearci Jobe - running the best she has run in over 2 years. Kearci is another half-miler who needs to step it up to make up for some losses.
18) Adrienne LOng - a freshman from Mesquite Poteet who has shown a little ability in the discus, throwing 143-9 this past Saturday. Shows some potential.
19) Katherine Priebe - a senior who has improved in every meet this year - running PR's in 3 events in 2 weeks. I like seeing a senior step up and have a great final season.
20) Jessie Gibbs - ditto on Jessie, who had a PR in the pole vault two weeks ago and actually exceeded her previous PR again this past weekend. Could actually be in the hunt for points at the conference meet.
21) Kristyn Smith - a walkon kid who will probably never run at a conference meet, but who ran PR's this past Saturday in both the 200 and 400.
22) Roxie Greve - another walkon kid who smashed her PR in the 100H by over 4/tenths this past Saturday.
23) The women's 4X400 could be devastatingly good before the season is over, but they are not there yet. And, Tech will have to lean on 2, 3 or even 4 women to run on both relays - not ideal, but you want to put your best 3 on the relay.
Disappointments are few, but there are some HUGE disappointments! I found out this past weekend that Caroline Karunde and her twin, Winrose, have finished their eligibility at Tech. I thought they had one more outdoor season left and they represent 10-20 points at conference. And, Purity Biwott only have one indoor season left and NO outdoor eligibility - there is 8-12 more points down the drain. AND, Rose Tanui is being redshirted, so she will have one full year left - cross country, indoor and outdoor. OUCH!!!
A few kids have not competed this year: Amanda Dowdy (the volleyball all-star at Tech who can also high jump extremely well) and Tiffany Hines (the top recruit for Tech this past year). Not sure if Amanda will jump this year, but we should see Tiffany soon - she was entered in some events this past Saturday, but did not run.
All in all, both the men's and women's teams looked good last Saturday. In fact, there may be more national contenders on these teams than I have seen in a few years. There is probably not quite the depth for the conference meet as last year, but lots of potential for the national meet.
