The Texas Tech Shootout comes to town, accompanied by frigid weather. There will be several Big 12 schools (Kansas State, OU, OK State, Baylor, and TCU), plus 3 Pac-12 schools to bring some more depth (Arizona, AZ State, and USC), and BYU is bringing some of their sprinters and jumpers. Unfortunately, BYU is not bringing their top distance runners, although the 800 and mile races will still be pretty loaded.
This first day will be rather heavy on the sprints, with all of the races that are held on the infield sprint track competing today. Here are some highlights, with the approximate times:
This first day will be rather heavy on the sprints, with all of the races that are held on the infield sprint track competing today. Here are some highlights, with the approximate times:
- 4:30 -- the men's weight throw features Red Raider Gabe Oladipo (ranked #3 in the country) going head to head with the kid from Arizona who is ranked #4 in the country
- 5:00 - women's LJ has Monae Nichols (#1 in the country) and Ruth Usoro (#5 in the country) competing with a K-State jumper ranked #9 and a OU jumper ranked #17, plus some of the other top jumpers in the Big 12, along with a freshman from USC that was the top HS long jumper on the east coast in 2020 indoors
- 5:00 - men's LJ pits Red Raider Justin Hall, jumping unattached since he only has outdoor eligibility left, jumping against Jalen Seals (the transfer from Baylor) and a jumper from OU ranked #9 in the country
- 5:00 - women's PV has the whole Tech vault corps up against the Baylor vaulters (ranked #2 and #15 in the country) and two of the top vaulters in the Pac-12 from Arizona State
- 5:00 women's 60 hurdle prelims -- good time for Red Raider Gabrielle McDonald to get untracked (she was the Big 12 champ in 2020), plus Kaylor Harris and Simone Watkins. USC brings in a freshman that was the #1 recruit in the country last year (ranked #11 in the country in this event right now), plus top 30 ranked hurdlers from Baylor, Arizona State, and K-State
- 5:10 - men's 60 hurdle prelims -- Tech's Maliek Kendall (2nd in the Big 12 in 2020) finally debuts this season. OU brings in a top-10 ranked hurdler and Arizona State has 2 top-20 hurdlers. And, USC brings in a freshman who was one of the top HS hurdlers in the country in 2019. (Where is Cale Kassen? I guess he is injured or under COVID protocol -- he has not competed since the Corky Classic)
- 5:20 women's 60 prelims -- Tech will have 5 sprinters going against USC's defending national champ in this event
- 5:30 men's 60 prelims - this would be the perfect meet for Jacolby Shelton to get going, as there are 5 sprinters in this event ranked in the top 25 in the country (USC with 1, TCU with 2, OU with one and BYU with 1)
- 5:40 - solid field in the women's 800, including Tech's Joanna Archer, who was the JC indoor 800 champ in 2019. USC has a runner who is ranked top-20 and K-State has a runner who medalled at the Big 12 last year indoors
- 5:55 - Tech has 4 runners in the fast section, including freshmen Owen Likins (ranked #11) and Marco Vilca (ranked #25), plus Sven Cepus (3rd in the Big 12 in 2019 indoors). USC brings in the top 800 runner in the Pac-12; OK State has a runner who finished less than a second behind Taki Hedeilli in the mile last week; and West Texas A&M gets to enter a kid in the race who is from Amarillo HS and ranked #5 in the D-2
- 6:10 - the women's 400 is LOADED -- the fast heat has the 2019 national indoor 400 champ from USC, plus a total of 5 USC runners in the top heats ranked in the top-20 in the country (will make for a fantastic 4x4 relay tomorrow). In the 4th section of the 6 sections there are 2 runners ranked in the top-30 in the country -- that is how deep the field is. And, there is not a single Red Raider in the race!
- 6:30 - good depth in the men's 400 as well, with USC, Arizona, and BYU having some of the top quartermilers on the west coast. Chancellor Stephenson runs in the 2nd heat, where the other three runners are ranked in the top-20 nationally. Ryan Champlin will finally run the open 400 in section 3, where he also has a top-25 runner from Arizona in his section. This is the time to see both Red Raiders try to move into the top-25 in the country.
