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Track teams to compete at OU By Colleen Casey The TCU men’s and women’s track and field teams begin competition at the Oklahoma Indoor Classic Saturday in Norman, Okla. Oklahoma will also host Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Houston, Texas-Arlington, as well as individual women participants from Oklahoma State and individual men participants from Stephen F. Austin. Track and field assistant coach Sam Hume said although TCU doesn’t know much about the other schools they’ll race against at the Classic, the Frogs are preparing to compete at their top level.
Trackwire Online’s preseason poll ranks the TCU men No. 2 in the nation, placing them under top-ranked Arkansas, which is the defending indoor track champions. The men rank above the defending outdoor track leaders, third-ranked Stanford. “For me, that’s the biggest understatement of the year,” senior sprinter/jumper Darvis Patton said. “Those ranks will change after this weekend because we have some secret weapons nobody knows about.” The men’s side is full of accomplished senior sprinters, which cannot be considered secrets. Hume said Summer 2000 Olympians Kim Collins and Lindel Frater, along with a determined Patton, will lead the team with expectantly big performances throughout the upcoming season. Collins said he believes there isn’t any one team leader despite what his coach said. “Anyone can beat anyone else on any given day,” Collins said. “We are all just one of the guys.” The men have shown a focus on their sprinting and jumping. Patton, sophomore triple jumper Brandal Lawrence and senior long jumper Jason Howard will continue to add to the team’s depth as they did last season. “(The men’s) caliber is fabulous,” track and field head coach Monte Stratton said. “We’ll be lucky if everyone stays healthy. The ability is definitely there.” Although the women’s side is currently unranked nationally, Stratton said he believes the team’s capacity is light years more advanced compared to last year’s indoor team. Stratton said he expects both the men and women to excel in sprints, jumps and distance events. Individual Frogs have the ability to qualify for the indoor championship at the Classic just as Collins, Frater and Howard did last year. “We’d be happy to get six to eight qualifiers,” Hume said. “That would mean we did a decent job of preparing for the season.” The defending men’s mile relay champions in outdoor, Baylor, and indoor, TCU, will create powerful competition for the mile relay in the Classic. Oklahoma’s contributors to the mile relay will be another element to the event, Hume said. Stratton said he considers the mile relay as one of the feature events for the men, and it will be exciting for the women as well. Colleen Casey |
