The TCU track & field team had several strong individual performances at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. this weekend.
The Frogs remain at the top of the Mountain West Conference and in national rankings on the men and women’s sides in both track and field events.
Head coach Darryl Anderson was pleased with the effort from his team as a whole after action concluded Saturday.
“We wrapped up the weekend with a pretty good day today,” Anderson said. “Our field event kids did a great job. Kelsey Samuels came away with a personal best in the shot at 52 feet, 7 inches to finish in second and Stormy Harrison came in third. On the men’s side, Cameron Tabor picked up the pace and keeps preparing himself for conference and Cameron Parker continues to be consistent in the triple jump.
Our women’s mile relay has also been consistent and finished second in our heat.”
Sophomore Kelsey Samuels’ personal-best earned her silver medal honors in shot put. The distance of 52 feet, 7 inches currently ranks top in the MWC and 15th in the country. TCU has not had a woman throw a shot that far since former Frog All-American Stevanie Wadsworth-Ferguson (1992-94).
Senior Stormy Harrison followed in third place with a season’s best distance of 51 feet, 8.5 inches.
In the men’s shot put, sophomore Cameron Tabor also earned third place honors with a seasonal-best toss of 56 feet, 3 inches. The mark moves Tabor into second overall in the MWC and sixth in the nation.
The women’s 4×400 quartet of Quinterra Charles, Kristal Juarez, Teneshia Peart and Jessica Young stormed around the track at 3:35.44 to claim third place overall and remains the top relay squad in the MWC. On the men’s side, the Frogs’ team of Lavon Collins, Jordan Pitts, Jack O’Brien and Sean Zurko placed third in the their heat.
Young also made her presence known in the 60 meter-dash on Friday, breaking her own school record by running an NCAA automatic and personal-best time of 7.18 seconds in the women’s 60-meter semifinals. Her 7.18 seconds sprint ties for the fastest time in the country this season and sits 11th in the world. Young later took second in the finals with a clocking of 7.22 seconds. The Columbia, S.C. product took her preliminary heat at 7.24 seconds.
Junior Whitney Gipson earned 10th place honors in the women’s triple jump, leaping 38 feet, 10.5 inches in her second attempt. Saturday was Gipson’s triple jump debut for TCU in the 2011 season, ranking fifth in the conference.
Cameron Parker leapt to a mark of 51 feet, 3.75 inches to garner eighth place in the men’s long jump invitational.
Other highlights on the first day of competition included Agnes Kemboi (7th) and Kelly Dawson (8th) finishing back-to-back in the women’s 3,000 meters. In the men’s 200-meter dash, senior Mychal Dungey won his heat with a seasonal-best time and placed 17th overall. The three-time All-American crossed the finish line with the top-time in the Mountain West Conference this season at 21.38 seconds.
“There is still a lot of room for improvement and it looks like the weather forecast looks good for the next 10 days, so we should be able to train,” Anderson said. “The one thing that is very clear to me is that we obviously need to train and we haven’t been able to do that for the last two weeks. As we move forward in preparations for the conference meet, things can only get better.”
Up Next
The team will prepare for the Mountain West Indoor Championships starting Feb. 24 in Albuquerque, N.M.