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Frogs
win at Texas Relays For the men’s and women’s track and field teams the 74th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relay in Austin last weekend was as much about tradition as it was about performance. The men’s team took top honors Saturday, being named the Most Outstanding team for the second straight year. The annual meet hosted 65 colleges from around the country and gave the men’s team, a chance to once again prove itself on a national level.And senior Kim Collins led the charge, being named the relay’s Most Outstanding male athlete. Head coach Monte Stratton said he was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I think we upheld TCU’s tradition nicely,” he said. “The Texas Relays are a big, high-profile meet. It’s the first of four big outdoor meets for us, including the Penn Relays, Conference Championships and hopefully, the NCAA Championships at the end of the year.” An early event that set a winning tone for the meet for TCU was the sprint-medley relay. Collins teamed with seniors Darvis Patton and Roy Williams and junior Eliud Njubi to finish first Friday. The win marked the third time the Frogs have taken first place in the sprint-medley relay at the Texas Relays. But this year the squad’s time of 3:14.40 was faster than the Frogs’ winning times in 1982 and 1998. Patton also competed in the long jump Friday. Though his jump of 7.91 meters wasn’t as long as his national-best 8.12 March 31 at the UTA Invitational, it was good enough to earn him the bronze medal. Senior long jumper Jason Howard won the “B” competition with a leap of 7.83 meters. The jump was a personal best for Howard, and it earned him a provisional bid to the nationals. Howard said he was pleased with the jump, despite the fact he recently began competing in the event. “I haven’t been doing the long jump for very long, so I’m still getting into the groove of it,” Howard said. “I’m still getting some kinks worked out.” In women’s action Friday, two Frogs qualified for the 100-meter final. Sophomore Monica Twum will be joined by junior Sonia Williams, whose time of 11.50 earned her a provisional bid for nationals. In Saturday’s final of the women’s 100, Twum finished second, and Williams finished eighth. Twum earned herself a provisional bid for nationals by finishing with a time of 11.34. But Twum said her performance could have been stronger. “I was really ready for the race and ran my personal best,” Twum said. “But I felt like I didn’t put all my efforts into it and had energy left over. I should be able to go faster if I can push myself.” Also on Saturday, freshman Allie Koons became the first woman Frog ever to compete in a steeplechase event. She finished the 3000-meter obstacle course in 11:21.21, which was good enough for seventh place.As the women set records of their own, the men’s team continued to make its presence known. Collins won the 100-meter dash with a time of 9.99. The sub-10 second time was only two tenths of a second off the TCU all-time record of 9.79, set by Raymond Stewart in 1989. Patton also ran in the 100-meter dash, finishing third. His time of 10.14 qualifies him for nationals. Stratton said he was impressed with Patton’s performance. “(Patton) is an iron man,” Stratton said. “People don’t realize how much the jumps take out of you. It takes an incredible burst of energy to do the long jump, and then he’s able to sprint at the same meet.” The 4x100-meter relay team didn’t disappoint as it won in its second of two outdoor meets this season. Patton and Collins, along with senior Lindel Frater and junior Steve Slowly finished their communal lap in 38.94. The time is the fastest in the nation this season, second only to the Frogs’ time of 38.77 at Arlington. After helping TCU to a victory in the sprint-medley relay Friday, Njubi still had enough energy left to compete in the mile run Saturday. He finished second with a time of 4:03.59. Due to a schedule change, the Frogs’ next meet will be at Texas A&M.
Sam Eaton |
