Horned Frogs Set For Last Chance Meets
3/4/2010 12:00:00 AM
March 4, 2010
FORT WORTH, Texas - Fresh off the Mountain West Conference Indoor Championships, members of the TCU track and field squad will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., and Ames, Iowa, this weekend for the Arkansas Last Chance Meet and Iowa State NCAA Qualifier.
The two meets provide an opportunity for the Horned Frogs to make or improve upon NCAA qualifying marks.
"We have quite a few people that are sitting on the bubble as far as entry into the NCAA meet, so we are just trying to secure and protect spots this weekend," said head coach Darryl Anderson. "We feel good about where we are at right now. Overall, we feel like if we can get these student-athletes through into the NCAA meet that they will do very well for us next week."
"Really, we have to protect ourselves going into this weekend because it is arguably one of the hardest weekends of any sport," said Anderson. "The NCAA only takes 15 student-athletes per event, so it is really tough to get into the NCAA Indoor Championships. For us to have several student-athletes sitting in the top 20 is pretty impressive and it shows that we have a very outstanding team."
On Friday, Neidra Covington and Whitney Gipson will take to the runway inside the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville. Field events will begin at 2 p.m. with the women's long jump, while the women's triple jump will take place at 6:30 p.m.
Freshman Chaniqua Corinealdi and junior Teneshia Peart will lead the Frogs on the track, competing in both the women's 60 and 200 meters, respectively. The prelims of the 60 meters will begin at 5:25 p.m., while the 200 will open at 7:15 p.m.
Finally, Sean Zurko and Jack O'Brien will look to better their position for the NCAA meet in the men's 800 meters at 6:15 p.m. in Fayetteville.
Gipson will compete in the long jump after soaring 20 feet, 5 ¼ inches to collect third-place with a personal-best indoor leap last weekend. Her jump is currently the nation's No. 26 ranked jump.
Covington currently sits at No. 16 in the NCAA in the women's triple jump and will look to move up the national rankings with a solid mark in the event tomorrow night. The three-time All-American is coming off a second-place finish at the conference championships and has posted a seasonal-best leap of 42 feet, 6 1/4 inches. In the long jump, the senior, who brings a No. 30 ranking into Fayetteville, soared 20 feet, 5 inches at the MWC Championships to place fourth overall.
"We are looking forward to watching what both Neidra and Whitney can do this weekend. They are both right on the verge of hitting a big jump, which this weekend is another opportunity for them to do that," said Anderson.
Corinealdi heads into tomorrow having captured the Mountain West Conference title in the women's 60 meters with a personal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.33 seconds. Corinealdi's time was the third-fastest time ever recorded in TCU history and is No. 18 on the national descending order list. The freshman will also run the 200 meters on Friday after collecting runner-up accolades at the conference championships with a personal-best time of 23.67 seconds, which is No. 20 in the NCAA.
Peart clocked a seasonal-best time of 23.91 seconds to place third overall at the MWC Championships in the 200 meters. In the 60 meters, the Canada native will look to better her seasonal-best time of 7.52 seconds.
"Both Chaniqua Corinealdi and Teneshia Peart had outstanding meets at the Mountain West Conference Championships. Chaniqua is kind of sitting on the bubble in both the 60 and 200, so she just needs to head into this weekend and not only protect herself, but also improve upon her time. Teneshia will be really good competition for Chaniqua and hopefully she can drop her times down to where she can put herself into a position to get into the NCAA meet."
In the men's 800 meters, Zurko heads into the final weekend of the indoor regular season ranked No. 30 overall in the nation with a seasonal and personal-best time of 1:49.69, which he clocked at the Tyson Invitational earlier this season.
"Sean Zurko is in the mix to get to the NCAA meet in the 800 and we are excited to see what he can do this weekend," said Anderson.
On Saturday in Ames, the men's 4x400 quartet of Dell Guy, Clemore Henry, Mychal Dungey and Matthew Love will compete at 3:55 p.m. Overall, the conference championship unit, who sit No. 8 in the NCAA, bring a seasonal-best time of 3:07.59 into the Lied Recreation Center.
"They are sitting eighth in the country right now and obviously we want to protect ourselves. We don't want to be on the outside looking in come Sunday morning, so we are going to try to run a little bit faster then we have previously. Those four guys are ready to run," said Anderson.
Freshmen Charles Silmon and Skye Dawson will also be in competition at Iowa State, competing in the men's 60 meters, while Henry and Dungey will lead TCU in the men's 200. The prelims of the men's 60 begin at 11:35 a.m., while the 200 will take place at 2:15 p.m.
Silmon will look to better his position this weekend in the 60 meters after clocking a seasonal-best time of 6.67 seconds to open the indoor season. His time is the 16th-fastest time in the NCAA. Dawson comes off an impressive showing at the Mountain West Conference Championships, claiming the conference title with an NCAA provisional and personal-best time of 6.69 seconds. Dawson's gold medal time is currently No. 27 overall in the NCAA and was the third-fastest time ever recorded in MWC Championship history.
"Both Skye and Charles have an opportunity to get into the national meet, so hopefully they come out this weekend and perform like their capable of," said Anderson.
Henry and Dungey blazed to first and second-place honors in the men's 200 meters last weekend. Henry won his first conference title with a personal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 21.02 seconds, while Dungey crossed the finish line in second-place with a personal-best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 21.05 seconds. Henry's time, which broke the previous meet record, is the No. 8 ranked time in TCU history and currently sits No. 20 in the NCAA. Dungey, who was passed down the backstretch by Henry, clocked the nation's No. 22 ranked time and the ninth-fastest time in Horned Frog history at the conference championships.
"Both of them are sitting in the hot spot on getting in after a really good conference championship," said Anderson.
Kristal Juarez rounds out the TCU competitors this weekend, taking to the track in the women's 400 meters at 12:40 p.m. Juarez crushed the school record in the event last weekend, clocking an NCAA provisional and personal-best time of 53.43 seconds to earn runner-up honors. She heads into Ames with the 19th-fastest time in the nation.
"Kristal Juarez is sitting on the bubble going into the weekend, so she is going to have an opportunity to drop her time a little bit against some good competition in Ames," said Anderson.
The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships begin March 12 in Fayetteville, Ark. The Horned Frogs outdoor season opens March 19 with the Horned Frog Invitational in Fort Worth.
Players Mentioned
