TCU
Mountain West Indoor Championships
Kigen And Tanui Dominate On Historic Day At Championships
2/26/2010 12:00:00 AM
Feb. 26, 2010
PHOTO GALLERY | RESULTS | QUOTES
"I thought we had a good meet today," said head coach Darryl Anderson. "On the women's side, I thought they really competed well. This is the first meet this year that I have been able to walk away and think that we gave the maximum effort. The key for us is that we go back tonight and get some sleep and see what we can come back with tomorrow. We are in a good position to be in the top two tomorrow, which would be a good way to close out the conference portion of our season."
"On the men's side, I thought we did really well today," said Anderson. "We are sitting with 21 points, which is exceptional for us after the first full day of competition. We had a really good meet on the men's side today and had a lot of people qualify. The only negative I would have with the men is that we false started in the 60 and 200 meters. Those things can't happen, but we are going to make some adjustments and make sure that doesn't happen from now on. All-in-all, our men are in a great position to do some exceptional things tomorrow."
Overall, the Flyin' Frogs had a banner day inside the Albuquerque Convention Center on Friday, recording five NCAA provisional marks, winning two conference titles and setting one meet and coliseum record. TCU currently sits No. 2 in the team standings on the women's side with 30 points, while the men are fifth overall with 21 points heading into the final day of competition.
Earning NCAA provisional marks on Friday were Tanui (women's 5,000 meters), Whitney Gipson (women's long jump), Neidra Covington (women's long Jump), Kigen (men's 5,000 meters) and Mychal Dungey (men's 200 meters).
Kigen opened the day, claiming first-place honors in the men's 5,000 meters with an NCAA provisional qualifying and seasonal-best time of 14:14.19. His time, which broke the previous meet record, was also an Albuquerque Convention Center record. By winning the event, Kigen captured the first Mountain West Conference title in the 5,000 meters in TCU history and the first conference 5,000-meter title since former Flyin' Frog great Kip Kangogo won Conference USA in 2005. Finally, Kigen's time when converted for altitude sits in the top 10 in the NCAA.
"Festus Kigen winning the 5,000 meters was outstanding today. He was huge today," said Anderson. "Being able to win both the men's and women's 5,000 meters was a great way to open the day. It was huge for us."
Tanui, a sophomore from Kenya, also captured first-place accolades in the women's 5,000 meters, crossing the finish line with a seasonal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 17:09.46. Tanui, who cruised to easy victory, became the first Horned Frog in TCU history to claim the women's 5,000-meter title in the Mountain West Conference. She also posted the first conference title in the event since former Flyin' Frog great Mary Kinyanjui won Conference USA in 2004. Tanui's time when converted for altitude currently sits No. 2 all-time in TCU history. To put Tanui's length of victory into perspective, BYU's Katie Bowen collected runner-up honors in the event with a time of 17:22.83.
"Rose Tanui was exceptional today. She was the first student-athlete in TCU history to ever win the 5,000 meters in the Mountain West, which is big for our program. We are really pleased with that," said Anderson.
In the women's long jump, Gipson and Covington both posted seasonal-best marks, placing third and fourth overall, respectively. Gipson soared 20 feet, 5 ¼ inches on her final attempt to collect third-place with a personal-best indoor leap. Her NCAA provisional leap is currently the nation's No. 18 ranked jump. Covington collected fourth-place honors with an NCAA provisional leap of 20 feet, 5 inches. Her jump currently is No. 19 overall in the NCAA.
"Both Whitney and Neidra really competed well for us today," said Anderson. "They both had seasonal-bests and did a very good job."
Freshman Cameron Tabor excelled for the Frogs in the men's weight throw, turning in a sixth-place showing with a throw of 53 feet, 11 ¼ inches. By placing sixth overall, Tabor posted the highest finish by a TCU student-athlete in the men's weight throw in program history at a conference championship.
"I thought Cameron Tabor did some really good things today for us," said Anderson. "It is his first year trying the weight throw, so for him to come out and get sixth-place was exceptional."
In the men's 60 meters, freshman Charles Silmon clocked the fastest-preliminary time of the day, recording a time of 6.76 seconds to advance to Saturday's final. He was followed by fellow freshman Skye Dawson who finished preliminary action with the second-fastest preliminary time, clocking a personal-best time of 6.76 seconds to advance. Sophomore Mark Barnes and Dungey also advanced to the final round of action, respectively.
On the women's side, Teneshia Peart advanced to Saturday's final round, turning in a time of 7.54 seconds to win heat No. 1 and place third overall. Freshman Chaniqua Corinealdi also advanced to the finals with a personal-best time of 7.52 seconds, which was the third-fastest preliminary time on Friday.
Junior Jordan Pitts qualified for tomorrow's final in the men's 60-meter hurdles, posting the top-preliminary and a seasonal-best time of 8.05 seconds. Pitts has captured the last two Mountain West Conference Championships in the men's 60-meter hurdles.
Larissa Matthews led TCU on the women's side, turning in a third-place showing to advance to the final round of competition with a personal-best time of 8.56 seconds.
In the men's 200 meters, the Flyin' Frogs blazed by the competition on Friday, advancing five to the finals, while also posting the top-five times on the day. Dungey led TCU with an NCAA provisional and top-time of 21.15 seconds, while Clemore Henry followed in second-place with a time of 21.46 seconds. Dell Guy and Mark Barnes recorded third and fourth-place honors, respectively, with times of 21.48 and 21.75 seconds, while OJ Stoneham rounded out the TCU qualifiers with a personal-best time of 21.78 seconds.
Peart, a junior from Canada, came back later in the day to record a seasonal and personal-best time of 24.01 seconds to advance in the 200 meters with the second-fastest preliminary time. Corinealdi also moved on to the finals in the 200, breezing to a personal-best time of 24.02 seconds.
In the women's 400 meters, Kristal Juarez recorded the second-fastest preliminary time to qualify for the finals, while freshman Quinterra Charles also advanced on Friday in Albuquerque.
Guy and Henry led the Flyin' Frogs in the men's 400 meters, clocking the top-two preliminary times of 47.53 and 47.97 seconds, respectively. Matthew Love also qualified for Saturday's final in the 400 meters.
Other highlights on the day included, Sean Zurko crossing the finish line in 1:54.64 in the men's 800 meters to post the top-preliminary time. Sophomore Jack O'Brien also advanced in the 800 on Friday, collecting a ninth-place preliminary finish.
The Frogs closed the day, finishing fourth overall in women's distance medley with a seasonal-best time of 12:17.29. The unit's time is currently ranked No. 5 all-time in TCU history.
On the men's side, Jeff Pels, Pitts, Zurko and Kigen collected runner-up accolades with a seasonal-best time of 10:03.43, which ranks No. 4 all-time in TCU history. The quartet's runner-up finish was the highest finish for a TCU distance medley unit since placing first overall in 2005 at the Conference USA Championships.
BYU leads the women's competition with 72 points, followed by TCU (30), San Diego State (30), New Mexico (25), Utah (23), Air Force (19), Colorado State (15), Wyoming (14) and UNLV (6). BYU also leads on the men's side with 63.5 points, followed by Wyoming (53), New Mexico (43.5), Air Force (34.5), TCU (21) and Colorado State (15.5).
"I think we set ourselves up very well for tomorrow," said Anderson. "Everyone that we thought would get through, did so for the most part, so we will come back tomorrow and finish this thing out. We are sitting in a very good position on both sides as we head into the final day."
The Flyin' Frogs will close competition at the 2010 Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships tomorrow in Albuquerque. Start time is set for 9:45 a.m. MT with the men's shot put.
