For the last time in program history, the TCU track & field team will be competing in the Mountain West Indoor Championships.

The team will be traveling to Albuquerque, N.M. where the 60-degree, 200-meter state of the art track is located. The facilities have received high reviews from athletes, coaches and fans, according to the University of New Mexico website.

The track also includes long jump runways and pits, as well as areas for shot put, pole vault and high jump events in the center, according to the website. It has been the site of every NCAA Indoor Championship meet since 2000. The facility hosted the 2010 and 2011 Mountain West Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, and in 2011 it also hosted the U.S.A. Nationals.

The team has added several new athletes on the roster this season but the Horned Frogs will be relying on All-American teammates junior Charles Silmon and senior Whitney Gipson to lead the team this weekend, head coach Darryl Anderson said.

The Horned Frogs have registered some of the best times and marks in the nation this season.

Silmon is No. 10 in the nation for men’s 60-meter dash with a time of 6.66 seconds. He also earned his second Mountain West Men’s Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week of the season on Jan. 31, after clocking 6.71 seconds to claim the 60-meter title at the Razorback Invitational.

For the 2011-12 season, three track & field Horned Frogs have earned honors.

Gipson earned a Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week honor after placing first in the women’s long jump at the Texas Top-10 Invitational, setting a meet record with a leap of 6.29 meters.

At the last meet, Gipson placed first for women’s long jump at the Texas A&M Invitational, completing a leap of 6.37 meters to hold the top spot from start to finish.

Gipson is No. 9 in the nation for women’s long jump with a leap of 6.096 meters.
As a team, the Horned Frogs walked away with seven titles at the 2011 Mountain West Indoor Championships last season.

Silmon won titles in the men’s 100-meter, the 200-meter and the 4×100 meter relay while Gipson set a TCU record in the long jump for 6.61 meters and won the gold medal.

“Honestly anytime you head into a championship meet, you want to try to get as many individual champions as you can and you want to get as high of a finish as you can,” Anderson said. “The biggest thing has just been understanding how to compete.”

Rachael Lehman contributed to this report.