A crowd of colorful umbrellas lined the bleachers Friday at the TCU Invitational, as rain fell steadily throughout Day Two of the season’s first outdoor meet.
The rain delayed a few events and prompted the cancellation of the final race, but the Horned Frogs managed to finish the meet with three first-place finishes.
Track and field director Darryl Anderson said he was glad to not see any injuries due to the wet conditions. But he said he wished the meet had taken place indoors.
“I’m not real happy about the weather,” he said. “I’d like to have a dome over the top of this place, but it is what it is. We just move on.”
The women’s 4×100 relay team took the first crown, finishing with a time of 45.67.
The relay team still has much to work on, though, Anderson said.
“We haven’t spent a lot of time with our exchanges yet because we just ended the indoor season,” he said. “So to get a win, I felt good about it.”
Another win came when Lavon Collins took first in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking in with a time of 52.92.
In field events, Scotty Newton won the long jump with a distance of 6.87 meters.
All but one of the events took place. The men’s 4×400 relay was scratched from the schedule as heavier rain began to pour. The TCU women opted out of the 4×400 relay, the last event of the day.
In the meet’s other relay, the men’s 4×100 meters, TCU finished second with a time of 40.73.
During the race, the Frogs faced some trouble with the first exchange, creating a slight delay for the team. When the baton reached the final runner, he was able to close in but came short of UT Arlington, who placed first.
The 4×100 relay squad ran without any of its usual members, including Ronnie Baker and Sam Watts. A week earlier, the two had competed in the NCAA Indoor Championships. Baker was crowned NCAA Indoor Champion in the 60 meters.
Watts finished eighth in the 200 meters at the championship meet but “dinged his leg a little bit,” Anderson said in a press release.
“He’s still recovering from the indoor season so he needed a week of rest,” Anderson said.
Anderson did not confirm whether or not Watts was recovering from injury.
Baker was set to run the 4×100 relay, but the weather prompted Anderson to pull Baker out of the race.
On the women’s side, former TCU long jumper and 2014 NCAA Champion Lorraine Ugen made an appearance. She ran unattached in the 100-meter dash, posting a time of 11.75 and finishing second.
The women also had a slew of third-place finishers—Judy Emeodi in the 200 meters, Ashle Caldwell in the 400 meters, Arin Rice in the 1500 meters and Makaila Flannigan in the 100-meter hurdles.
The meet concludes second day of the TCU Invitational. On the first day, Paraguay native Paola Miranda broke the school record in hammer throw. Her throw of 59.39 meters was 5.54 meters longer than the previous record of 53.85 meters.
The team has less than a week to prepare for the Texas Relays in Austin, which begin Wednesday.
Nothing could have prepared the team for Friday’s weather conditions, Anderson said, but the team is glad to finish the meet and dry up.
“Everybody’s happy,” he said. “We get to go home and have a nice hot shower, bath and a good dinner.”