Tech Track Teams Open Outdoor Season in top 25
By: Britton Drown - Texas Tech University
Updated: March 19, 2013
LUBBOCK, Texas - Both
Texas
Tech men's and women's track and field teams appeared in the top-20 of
the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association
2013 Outdoor Preseason Computer Rankings released Tuesday morning.
The
Red Raiders appeared
at No. 16 while the Lady Raiders appeared at No. 17 as the program looks
towards the annual UTEP Springtime Invitational this weekend.
"It's great to have both
teams represented in the national rankings," head coach Wes
Kittley said. "It gives us some great momentum for the outdoor
season, and we are looking to improve with each meet as the year progresses."
Texas
Tech is coming off
a highly-successful start to the 2013 outdoor campaign as the program
enters this weekend with two national leaders and 15 student-athletes
ranked in the top-15 on the national outdoor performance list in their
respective events.
The
Texas Tech men's team
garnered its third consecutive top-20 finish at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor
Championships last spring, and enters the 2013 outdoor season after
securing a program-best fifth place finish at the 2013 NCAA Indoor
Championships.
The Lady Raiders return
three student-athletes who earned All-America honors during the 2012 outdoor season including sophomore Cierra
White who currently ranks in the top-20 nationally in both
the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash.
White holds the No. 2 time
in the 200-meter (22.91) and the No. 17 time in the 100-meter (11.68) after sweeping both events at the 35th Annual
Aztec Invitational in San Diego last weekend. Meanwhile, the Lady Raider 4x400 team, comprised of Christen Rivers, Tiffany
Tarver, Olivia Lewis and Candace
Jackson currently leads the nation with a time of 3:36.94.
The Red Raiders and Lady
Raiders return to action this weekend at the annual UTEP Springtime Invitational scheduled for Saturday at Kidd Field.
