The Horned Frogs produced great results at two meets this weekend. TCU placed in the finals of all six events at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas and in one event at the Stanford Invitational in Stanford, Calif.
“From a weekend standpoint, I felt like we got some things done that we can build upon,” said director of track and field, Darryl Anderson.
Stanford Invitational
On Friday night, indoor 5,000 kilometer Big 12 champion sophomore Brenley Goertzen broke the TCU women’s 5,000 kilometer record with a time of 15:51.78. The record was previously set in 2010 by Rose Tanui. Goertzen placed second overall in a highly competitive field.
Texas Relays
Opening the 90th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, sophomore Lexi Aitken produced a career-best time in her second straight competition in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.86 in the prelims. Aitken then moved onto the finals Friday to record a seventh-place finish behind a time of 59.02.
Sophomore Brittney Trought placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdle finals, running into a slight headwind (w-0.3) behind a time of 13.39.
The women’s 4×400 meter relay squad of junior Tiffany Terry, sophomore Kayla Heard, Aitken and sophomore Jaden Davis placed fourth with a time of 3:41.14.
On the men’s side, junior Jalen Miller placed fifth in the 100-meter dash behind a time of 10.42. To qualify for the finals, Miller ran a 10.22 (w+4.3), winning his heat with the fourth-fastest qualifying time.
The 4×400 meter relay team of junior Kevin McClanahan and freshmen Jostyn Andrews, Ryan Champlin and Derrick Mokaleng placed seventh behind a time of 3:07.48.
“Our men’s 4×400 team is made up of three freshman. Anytime you do that and put them in this arena, it’s going to be tough.” said Anderson. “But the thing I liked was that everybody we took here stuck their nose in it and competed hard.”
Field Events
On the throwing side, senior Paola Miranda placed ninth in the women’s hammer throw with a mark of 184 feet 9 inches (56.32 meters). For the men, sophomore Fellan McGuigan recorded a season-best throw of 203 feet 4 inches (61.99 meters). Freshman Isaiah Rogers threw a career-best 58 feet 7.25 inches (17.86 meters), placing fourth in the shot put.
“I thought we had pockets of good things happen.” said Anderson. “Isaiah Rogers, for one, did a really good job elevating his personal-best to 58-7, so that was very pleasing.”
Junior Briona Oliver jumped her way to fifth place in the women’s long jump behind a distance of 19 feet 2 inches (5.84 meters). For the men, junior Scotty Newton earned sixth place with a mark of 25 feet (7.62 meters).
“Scotty Newton turned it around from yesterday,” said Anderson. “He struggled in the triple jump yesterday, which is his forte, but he really turned it around today and jumped 25 feet in the long jump, so that’s always a plus. That will be very helpful for us in the conference meet.”
Up Next
The Horned Frogs will compete at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz. on April 8.
“Now we head out to Arizona next week and come back home the week after that, so we are really gearing up to have a good showing at the Horned Frogs Invitational on April 15,” said Anderson. “I think we’re in a good place where we have got to obviously keep pecking our way at it and keep getting better, which I know this group will do.”
To see the full results of the Texas Relays competition, visit this website.
