TCU
Mountain West Indoor Championships
Four Provisional Marks Set At MWC Championships
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM
Feb. 27, 2009
RESULTS | QUOTES | PHOTO GALLERY
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The women's track and field team finished the second day of the 2009 Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships in the fourth spot on Friday, while the men are in sixth-place heading into Saturday at the Cadet Field House on the campus of the Air Force Academy.Overall, TCU recorded four NCAA provisional marks on Friday.
Securing NCAA provisional marks on Friday were Neidra Covington (Long Jump), Whitney Gipson (Long Jump), Kishelle Paul (60-Meter Hurdles) and Jessica Young (60 Meters).
"I thought we had a quality day today on the women's side," said head coach Darryl Anderson. "I think our women have a chance to come in here tomorrow and get second overall, while our men will definitely have to come in and scrap and fight. We have people qualified on the men's side, so hopefully we will be able to move up in the team rankings and go from there."
In the women's long jump, Gipson, a freshman from Newark, soared 20 feet, 3 ½ inches to place third overall, while Covington leaped 20 feet, 3 inches to finish in fourth-place. Both Gipson and Covington posted NCAA provisional marks with Gipson securing a personal-best jump. Overall, the top-five places in the women's long jump recorded NCAA provisional marks. Gipson's leap is currently the No. 25 ranked jump in the NCAA, while Covington posted the 27th-best leap in the country. Karoline Koehler of San Diego State won the event with an NCAA automatic leap of 20 feet, 10 3/4 inches.
"I thought both Whitney Gipson and Neidra Covington did a great job today in an outstanding long jump field. Whitney had a career-best and was exceptional," said Anderson.
Paul advanced to the finals of the women's 60-meter hurdles by clocking a seasonal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8.39 seconds. On the men's side, Jordan Pitts qualified for Saturday's final by crossing the finish line in 8.12 seconds. Both Paul and Pitts posted the top-time in the 60-meter hurdle prelims on Friday.
In the women's 60 meters, Young breezed past the competition to claim the top-time in preliminary action. Young recorded a seasonal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.34 seconds. Senior Jessica Clarke also advanced to Saturday's final by posting a time of 7.58 seconds. Young's time is currently tied for the 10th-fastest time in the NCAA, while Clarke just missed a personal-best mark.
Mark Barnes, a Houston native, led the Flyin' Frogs on the men's side, recording a top-time of 6.81 to qualify for Saturday's final. Barnes was followed by senior Andon Mitchell who clocked a time of 6.87 seconds to post the second-fastest time in preliminary action inside the Cadet Field House. Finally, freshmen Richard Knotts and OJ Stoneham rounded out the TCU qualifiers by clocking times of 6.93 and 6.96, respectively. Overall, TCU recorded the four-fastest times in preliminary competition.
Clarke led all runners in the women's 200-meter dash, advancing to the finals with a seasonal-best time of 24.17 seconds, while Paul followed with the second-fastest time in preliminary action, clocking a time of 24.28 to win heat No. 2. On the men's side, junior Dell Guy crossed the finish line with the fastest-qualifying time on Thursday. The Nevada native posted a time of 21.53, while Barnes and Stoneham finished preliminary action with the third and fourth-fastest times on the day.
Young came back later in the day to qualify for the finals of the women's 400 meters by recording the top preliminary time of 54.48 seconds. The junior just missed an NCAA provisional on Friday. Also qualifying for Saturday's final in the event were Hayley Shade and Meaghan Ryan, who finished fifth and eighth overall in preliminary action, respectively. Shekila Wilkinson rounded out the TCU qualifiers with a ninth-place finish.
On the men's side, Dell Guy and Matthew Love advanced to the finals by posting times of 48.30 and 48.58 seconds, respectively, to finish second and third overall in preliminary action.
Sean Zurko, a sophomore from Las Vegas, advanced to the finals of the men's 800 by clocking a time of 1:55.00. Zurko crossed the finish line with the second-fastest preliminary time.
In relay action, the women's distance medley consisting of Danielle Selner, Tiara Miller, Meaghan Peoples and Tanja Ivandic finished third overall with a time of 12:32.46. The men's unit of Louis Tijerina, Aaron Macklin, Jack O'Brien and Jeff Pels closed competition in sixth-place.
"I thought our women's distance medley ran well and that Tanja Ivandic did a great job of fighting through her difficulty and never gave in. She was gritty and that's kind of what you want out of your team," said Anderson.
BYU leads the women's competition with 83 points, followed by Utah (32), Air Force (24), TCU (23), Colorado State (21), New Mexico (19), Wyoming (15), San Diego State (14) and UNLV (3). BYU also leads on the men's side with 93 points, followed by Wyoming (47), Colorado State (33), Air Force (28), New Mexico (27) and TCU (3).
TCU will continue action tomorrow at the 2009 MWC Indoor Championships. Start time is set for 10 a.m. MT with the men's shot put.
