Two School Records Fall Saturday At Masked Rider Open
By: Britton Drown - Texas Tech University
Updated: January 19, 2013
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas
Tech
senior hurdler Katie Grimes spoke at length about this moment just a
few weeks before Saturday's finale of the Masked Rider Open.
The
Canyon, Texas native, who often admits
to never envisioning a career as decorated as the one she's
magnificently built in the last four years, already owned the school
record in each the 55-meter, 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles.
And so, in the midst of a busy day of
competition on her home track, Grimes put on one final show inside the Athletic Training Center.
In
a short burst, she flew one-by-one
over the hurdles on the way to breaking the school record for the second
time in as many meets, and third in the last two years, with a stellar
time of 7.67 seconds.
Grimes was the first of two Texas Tech
athletes to break school records in an eventful final day of the Masked Rider Open.
Sophomore
Kole Weldon also made history
Saturday as he broke the four-year-old school record in the men's shot
put with a toss of 18.47m (60'-7.25") to finish first overall in the
competition. The mark broke the previous record of 18.14m (59'-6.25")
and currently ranks No. 5 on the national indoor
qualifying list.
Weldon's
school record highlighted a strong
performance from the group of four Texas Tech throwers as they each
improved their marks from last weekend's season-opener. Meanwhile,
senior Lady Raider Ifeatu Okafor earned her second victory in as many
meets in the women's shot put with a season-best throw
of 15.84m (51'-11.75").
The
women's 4x400 relay team, comprised
of Christen Rivers, Candance Jackson, Amoy Blake and Cierra White,
improved on their already impressive performance from just a week ago.
The relay squad finished first overall with a time of 3:37.34, which
currently ranks third nationally.
In
the women's pole vault, a pair of freshmen
in Haley Cook and Shelby Poncik both turned in impressive performances.
Poncik cleared her first collegiate bar, and finished second with a mark
of 3.75m (12'-3.50"). Cook followed in third clearing a bar at 3.60m
(11'-9.75")
Texas Tech sophomore Avril McGhee opened
the women's field events by finishing second in the triple jump with a mark of 12.08m (39'-7.75").
Red
Raider junior Ezekiel Kissorio turned
in a strong performance in the men's 3,000-meter run finishing first
overall with a time of 8:25.77. Meanwhile, teammate Brendan Devlin set a
new personal-best with a time of 8:59.14.
Texas Tech returns to action next week
when the program makes its first road trip of the year to compete at the Texas A&M Mondo Challenge Jan. 25-26.
