Flyin' Frogs To Host Horned Frog Invitational
3/20/2009 12:00:00 AM
March 20, 2009
Schedule (Updated) | Live Results | Meet Web Site
Friday Heat Sheets | Saturday Field Events Heat Sheets | Saturday Running Events Heat Sheets
FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU track and field program will open its outdoor season this weekend with the third annual Horned Frog Invitational at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex."We are excited to get going again and get outdoors following the NCAA Indoor Championships," said head coach Darryl Anderson. "We are getting a lot of guys back this weekend and hopefully will be able to get a few regional qualifying marks out of the way. Overall, I am ready to get started."
The meet, which will include both college and high school teams from the state of Texas, will begin with the men's and women's discus on Friday at 5 p.m. Action is slated to begin on Saturday at 10 a.m. with the girls high jump. Collegiate events are slated to begin at 11 a.m. with the finals of the women's 1500 meters.
Over 1086 athletes will be in competition this weekend at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex in Fort Worth, including student-athletes from North Texas, Texas-Arlington, TCU and Texas Tech.
Combined high schools competing this weekend include Arlington Seguin, Burleson, Covenant Christian Academy, Crowley, North Crowley, Dallas Carter, Duncanville, Euless Trinity, Fort Worth Boswell, Fort Worth Paschal, Fort Worth Southwest, Fort Worth Trimble Tech, Fort Worth Wyatt, Grapevine, Kennedale, Mansfield Timberview, McKinney, North Mesquite, Plano East, South Grand Prairie, Tyler, Weatherford, Wichita Falls Rider and several others.
Overall, 66 high schools will be represented at the Horned Frog Invitational on Saturday.
Meet Information
Admittance into the meet is $5 for adults and $3 for youth (high school or younger). Fans attending the meet should park in the lot on the north side of the baseball and track and field complex.
The Horned Frog Invitational can also be followed live by logging onto www.gofrogs.com. There you will find a link to the live results tab, which is located on the schedule page. Following action in Fort Worth on both days, a full recap and final results will be posted on the TCU athletics website.
Flyin' Frogs Post Five All-America Honors
The women's 4x400 clocked a fourth-place finish last Saturday night to collect All-America honors at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships. Overall, TCU claimed five All-America certificates to conclude the 2009 indoor season.
The 4x400 quartet consisting of Hayley Shade, Kishelle Paul, Jessica Clarke and Jessica Young collected fourth-place honors with a time of 3:36.51. The fourth-place finish was the highest finish posted by a women's 4x400 at the NCAA Indoor Championships in program history.
Young, who is now a three-time All-American, also brought home All-America honors in the women's 60 meters, crossing the finish line in fourth-place with a time of 7.27 seconds.
Home Meet Information
TCU will host two meets this spring at the Lowdon Track & Field Complex TCU will kickoff its outdoor season this weekend with the third annual Horned Frog Invitational. The Flyin' Frogs will then host the 10th annual TCU Invitational on April 17-18.
Welcome Back
When TCU opens its outdoor season this weekend at the Lowdon Track and Field Complex, the Horned Frogs will see some familiar faces back on the track in Clemore Henry, Tommy Killen, Otis McDaniel, Clint Renfro and Justyn Warner. All five student-athletes sat out the indoor season and are poised for a breakout spring season.
Henry had a solid season last spring and could be a factor for TCU early and often in 2009. In 2008, Henry helped the men's 4x100 qualify for the NCAA Championships, while also being part of a 4x400 unit that crossed the finish line in 3:07.83 to capture the 4x400 title at the Penn Relays.
Killen will lead TCU in the throws this spring after posting an amazing string during the 2008 outdoor season in which he won five of six competitions in the men's discus. At the John Jacobs Invite, Killen won the men's discus in Norman, tossing a career best mark of 192 feet, 10 inches, which was an NCAA regional qualifying mark. His throw, which broke Jordan Reynold's previous school record, was one inch off the Olympic Trials standard.
McDaniel returns for the Flyin' Frogs after being a part of the men's 4x100 unit that earned All-America honors by crossing the finish line in seventh-place with a time of 39.60 seconds at the NCAA Championships in 2008. McDaniel, a three-time All-American, had a solid outing at the 2008 MWC Championships as he won the conference title in the 200 meters with a seasonal best time of 20.60, while also posting runner-up honors in the 100 meters.
Renfro, who hasn't competed since 2007, returns this weekend after winning the league title in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2007 MWC Outdoor Championships. Renfro will be a key contributor to the men's 4x400 this spring having ran the opening leg on the men's mile relay team that won the 2007 MWC Outdoor Championship with a time of 3:08.09.
Warner, a two-time All-American, will be back in action this weekend after winning the 100 meters with a personal best and regional qualifying time of 10.23 at the 2008 TCU Invite. The Canada native also posted an NCAA regional time of 21.27 seconds in the 200 at the TCU Invitational to earn MWC Conference Athlete of the Week honors in 2008. Finally, Warner won the conference title in the 100 meters by crossing the line in 10.44 seconds, while also being the leadoff leg of the men's 4x100 unit that earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships in 2008.
The 2008 Horned Frog Invitational
In front of 2,000 spectators, the Flyin' Frogs compiled 14 first-place finishes to go along with their nine NCAA regional qualifying marks.
Earning NCAA regional qualifying marks last spring were the men's 4x100, Che Chavez (400 meters), Otis McDaniel (100 meters), Andon Mitchell (100 meters), Justyn Warner (100 meters) and Mychal Dungey (200 meters). On the women's side, the 4x100, Kishelle Paul (100-meter hurdles) and Candis Kelley (shot put) earned NCAA regional qualifying marks.
Langat and Hodge Honored By Mountain West
Former Flyin' Frog greats Jackson Langat and Virgil Hodge were selected this winter as part of the Mountain West Conference 10th Anniversary Indoor Track & Field Team.
A combined panel of media, institutional and conference personnel and an on-line fan poll selected the anniversary teams. In order to be eligible for consideration, candidates must have been a first team all-Mountain West selection at least once in their careers.
Indoor Season Recap
Top Marks In The Mountain West
During this indoor season, TCU held the top spot in the Mountain West Conference in seven different events. Jessica Young blew away the competition in the women's 60 meters, posting a time of 7.26 seconds at the NCAA Championships. She also led the conference in the women's 400 meters with a time of 53.81 seconds.
On the men's side, freshman Mark Barnes garnered the top-spot in the men's 60 meters, while Mychal Dungey led all sprinters in the men's 200 meters. Fellow sophomore Jordan Pitts led TCU and the MWC in the 60-meter hurdles.
Finally, both the men and women's 4x400 have posted the top-time in the MWC heading into NCAA Championship action.
Flyin' Frogs In World Standings
Junior Jessica Young closed the indoor season in the top 50 in the world in the women's 60 meters according to the IAAF. Young, a Columbia, S.C., native, clocked a 60-meter time of 7.26 seconds at the MWC and NCAA Championships.
The women's 4x400 unit consisting of Hayley Shade, Kishelle Paul, Jessica Clarke and Young collected the second-fastest time in the world standings for an oversized track and the eighth-fastest time overall in the event.
Finally, the men's 4x400 ranked in the top 10 on an oversized track and in the top 20 overall in the world during the indoor season.
Up Next
TCU will travel to the LSU Relays next week following competition this weekend in Fort Worth. Action for the two-day meet will begin in Baton Rouge, La., on March 27.
Players Mentioned
