Frogs Begin Outdoor Season in Baton Rouge
3/12/2002 12:00:00 AM
March 12, 2002
The TCU Flyin' Frogs begin their 2002 outdoor season in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Saturday, March 16, in the LSU Alumni Gold Invitational. The Bernie Moore Track Stadium is also the site for the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
"Running on the same track as the national meet is only incidental," said TCU head coach Monte Stratton. "What's important is that running in Louisiana gives us the best chance for warmer weather this early in the season. We're hoping for a warm day and to put up some solid marks."
The Frogs are expected to be strong in the sprint events again during the outdoor season.
"We should be solid in the 100 and 200 and I look for our 4x100-meter relay teams to be national qualifiers," said Stratton. "We hope to get Demario Wesley back, but even if we don't, the quartet of Michael Frater, Cleavon Dillon, Jermaine Joseph and Steve Slowly should be a national contender. The women's sprint relay of La' Toya White, Monica Twum, Tiffany Starts and Chaunte Baldwin should be a national qualifier as well. Cleavon Dillon (long jump) and Brandal Lawrence (triple jump) should be factors at both the conference and national meets."
The Frogs will compete without senior middle distance standout Eliud Njubi. He will take a redshirt season and is expected to return to the track for the outdoor campaign in 2003.
"Not having Eliud available obviously will make us a little weaker this season," said TCU head coach Monte Stratton. "But he was not physically 100 percent during the indoor season, so we're going to hold him out of the outdoors. Hopefully, we will have enough other weapons to still get the job done at the conference meet."
Stratton is hoping to get sprinting standout Demario Wesley back soon. Wesley, who recorded an NCAA provisional mark of 6.64 in the 60-meter dash during the indoor season, was hampered by a strained hip flexor and was unable to compete at the national indoor championships.
"We're cautiously optimistic that we could get Demario back in April," said Stratton. "If he's healthy, it would give us a big boost in the 100 and 4x1 relay."
For more information, click on the Weekly Release on the track homepage.
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