Frogs bound for NCAA Indoor Championships
3/9/2006 12:00:00 AM
March 9, 2006
FORT WORTH, Texas - TCU will be represented among the nation's best at the 2006 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 10-11, in Fayetteville, Ark. Four Flyin' Frogs and the men's 4x400 meter relay team qualified for the national event, which will be hosted by defending champion University of Arkansas at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
"The NCAA is an exceptional meet," TCU head track and field coach Darryl Anderson said. "We're excited to be competing in the national championships and look forward to gaining some success while we're there."
Sophomore Virgil Hodge, the lone athlete from the TCU women's squad to compete in the national meet, will run in the 60 meters and 200 meters. She posted NCAA qualifying marks in both events during the indoor season - a 7.33 in the 60m at the Tyson Invitational, and marks of 23.89 and 23.84 in the 200m at two separate events early in the indoor campaign (Arkansas Invitational and Wes Kittley Open).
Hodge is one of three female athletes from the Mountain West Conference competing at the NCAA indoor meet. UNLV's Ashley Owens (60m) and Chelsea McKell of BYU (5,000m) are the other two MWC representatives.
For the TCU men, seniors Lewis Banda and Jackson Langat will be joined at the NCAA by Bradley Reed along with Quincy Butler and sophomore Otis McDaniel.
Both Banda and Langat turned in NCAA provisional marks in the 400m and 800m, respectively, at the Tyson Invite in February. Banda posted a 46.53 in the 400m, while Langat ran the 800m in a time of 1:47.86.
Banda, Langat and Butler are three parts of TCU's winning 4x400 relay squad that shattered the previous men's meet record at the 2006 MWC Indoor Championships last month.
Reed, a sophomore from Greenville, Texas, will run in the 60 meters after a 6.64 performance at the Tyson Invite, while McDaniel completes the Frog contingent as part of the men's relay unit.
Players Mentioned
