Frogs Qualify Five for Nationals
4/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Good weather produced outstanding performances for the TCU track and field team, as the Flyin' Frogs turned in five NCAA automatic qualifying marks at the UTA Invitational, held today in Arlington.
Senior sprinter Kim Collins led the way with two individual NCAA qualifying times and a third as part of the 4x100-meter relay team. The NCAA 2001 indoor champion at both 60 meters and 200 meters, opened the day by running the anchor leg on the TCU sprint relay team. The foursome, which also included Lindel Frater, Steve Slowly and Darvis Patton, turned in a blistering time of 38.76, the best mark in the world this season. Collins followed that up with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 10.01 in the 100 meters. It was the fastest 100-meters in the world this season, but will not go into the record books due to a slight tail wind. The St. Kitts native finished up the day with a first place finish in the 200 meters, clocking an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 20.44.
Patton, a senior from Dallas who finished seventh in the long jump at the NCAA indoor meet, qualified for the NCAA outdoor championships with a school record long jump of 8.12 meters or 26 feet, 8 3/4 inches. Junior Eliud Njubi rounded out the NCAA automatic qualifying times with a 1:47.14 800-meters. The WAC's 2001 Cross Country Athlete of the Year was an eighth place finisher in the 2001 NCAA indoor championships in the mile run.
The Frogs also turned in a trio of NCAA provisional marks. Abdul Rasheed, who finished 12th in the triple jump at the NCAA indoor meet, took first place in the triple jump with a school record leap of 52 feet, 4 3/4 inches. Jason Howard finished second in the event and also logged a provisional mark with a jump of 52-2. The TCU women's 4x100-meter relay team also turned in an NCAA provisional qualifying time.
"We had some really good performances," said TCU head track coach Monte Stratton. "We had the decent weather we needed to have to allow people compete. I think the performances were a result of the good weather." The Frogs will be in action again next weekend when they take part in the prestigious Texas Relays in Austin.
"We're looking forward to that," admitted Stratton. "We'll have the opportunity to compete against some of the best track athletes in the world."
