Grimes Breaks School Record In Season-Opener
By: Britton Drown - Texas Tech University
Updated: January 12, 2013
LUBBOCK, Texas - The
Texas
Tech track and field program officially kicked off its 2013 season
Saturday inside the Athletic Training Center and it didn't take long for
a school record to fall.
Senior Lady Raider Katie
Grimes opened the competition on the track with a stellar performance in the 55-meter hurdles
and breaking her own school record with a time of 7.71 seconds.
The
performance broke her previous school
record of 7.74 set last season as she cruised to a first place finish in
the event on Saturday. The Canyon, Texas native now owns four of the
top-five times in school history in the 55-meter hurdles to go along
with her school record in the 60-meter hurdles.
The
record-breaking effort signaled the
start of a highly-successful afternoon of competition for both the Red
Raiders and Lady Raiders who collected a total of 10 first place
finishes on the day.
"It was a great start for our athletes,"
head track and field coach Wes Kittley, who began his 14th season
at
the helm of the program on Saturday, said. "Our newcomers got some
great experience today and we had some great performances across the
board. I was very proud of Katie on her performance as well. She just
ran an excellent race today and continues to get
better with every meet."
Sophomore high jumper Jacorian
Duffield ended
the full day of competition with an indoor-personal best clearance of
2.18m
(7'-1.75"), nearly breaking a 29-year-old record of 2.22m (7'-3.5") set
in 1984. Duffield attempted a bar at 2.23m (7'-3.75"), but missed on
each of his three attempts.
The Lady Raiders swept the top two spots
in the women's 1,000-meter run led by junior Caitlin Waters who
finished first overall with a personal-best time of 2:59.55. She was followed by freshman McKenzie
Archer who finished second with a time of 3:01.46.
In the 55-meter dash, Lady Raider sophomore Cierra
White tied her personal best finishing second overall with a time of 7.03.
In his Texas Tech debut, freshman Nick
Rivera took home a first place finish in the men's 1,000-meter run pulling ahead of South
Plains' Anthonio Mascoll in the final stretch. Rivera crossed the finish line with a winning time of 2:31.70.
A pair of Lady Raider freshmen swept the
top two spots in the women's 600-yard run led by Christen Rivers who
finished first overall with a time of 1:23.27. Fellow freshman Tiffany Tarver then
crossed the line in second with a time of 1:24.70.
During the early field events, sophomore Kole
Weldon turned
in an impressive performance to open his 2013 indoor season. Weldon
finished
second in both the weight throw and shot put competition with an indoor
personal-best mark of 17.76m (58'-3.25") in the shot put. He threw for
16.80m (55'-1.50") in the weight throw.
Senior Ifeatu
Okafor garnered a first place finish in the women's shot put with a throw of 15.63m (51'-3.50").
Freshman Michaela
Palu won the women's high jump event with a clearance of 1.69m (5'-6.50") clearing the
bar on her third attempt. Fellow freshman Natalie Thompson finished
third in the event with a clearance of 1.64m (5'-4.50") clearing the bar on her first attempt.
The Red Raiders swept the top three spots
in the men's pole vault led by senior Jeremy Doddridge who
finished first overall with an indoor personal-best clearance of 5.50m (16'-6.75"). He was followed by freshman Kyle
Padalecki who finished second with a mark of 4.90m (16'-0.75") and freshman Kyle
Thompson who also cleared 4.90 (16'-0.75") and finished third on misses.
Freshman Haley
Cook finished second in the women's pole vault during her Lady Raider debut, clearing the
bar at 3.70m (12'-1.50").
Both
the Red Raider and Lady Raider 4x400
relay teams also turned in impressive performances, each taking home
first place finishes during the final events of the evening. The Lady
Raider relay blew away the field winning by nearly 14 seconds with a
time of 3:40.76. The Red Raiders then closed the
competition on the track with a first place finish and winning time of
3:13.29.
The
Red Raiders and Lady Raiders will
return to action next weekend when they host the Masked Rider Open, a
two-day meet beginning on Friday inside the Athletic Training Center.
