TCU Enjoys Solid Opening Day At Razorback Invite
1/28/2011 12:00:00 AM
Jan. 28, 2011
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Senior Jessica Young registered her second NCAA automatic time in as many meets Friday to lead TCU on the first day of competition at the Razorback Invitational.
"It was a typical first meet for the most part," TCU head coach Darryl Anderson said. "Obviously, Jessica Young is Jessica Young, running 7.25 in the opening first round. The meet wasn't pretty though. It got off schedule early, so we were off to a slow start right off the bat because of the 30-minute delay."
"We've got four girls advancing to the semifinals in the 60 meters, with Jessica's time leading everybody, and two guys going in Charles Silmon and Mark Barnes. Silmon had a really bad start with a stumble, but he was able to recover to get into the semifinal."
Young exploded ahead of the field in the second heat of the 60-meter preliminaries, registering a time of 7.25 to place first overall and advance to the semifinals Saturday. Freshman Franchelle Hill (7.64) chimed in for a 12th-place finish with a seasonal-high 7.64, just ahead of sophomore Chaniqua Corinealdi and freshman Veronica Jones, both coming in at 7.65. Hill, a Houston native, also paced the Frogs in the women's 200 meters.
"I thought the two freshmen, Franchelle Hill and Veronica Jones, ran fairly well in the 200," Anderson said. "They are just doing a good job of competing right now while they are still trying to figure out what they are doing."
For the TCU men, sophomore Charles Silmon flashed across the finish line at 6.82 to finish 10th overall in the 60-meter dash prelims, followed by senior Mark Barnes (16th) and junior OJ Stoneham (24th). Silmon and Barnes both earned the right to compete in the semifinals Saturday.
In the field events, junior Whitney Gipson flew to a third-place showing in the women's long jump. The Newark, Texas, product soared for a season's best 20-9.25 to register the longest leap in the Mountain West Conference this season.
"Whitney and Jessica really set the table for our team," Anderson said. "And for her to come out and jump well, get third and jumping 20 feet-nine puts her in great position to be able to jump at the NCAA meet in March."
Sophomore Kelsey Samuels earned fifth-place honors in the women's shot put for the second year in a row at the Razorback Invite, tossing a seasonal-best toss of 50-1.25 ft. The throw was the second-best indoor output of her collegiate career, sitting behind her 50-9.25 ft., performance to earn runner-up standards at the 2010 MWC Indoor Championships. Senior Stormy Harrison followed with a sixth place finish in the event.
"All in all, I think we competed hard," Anderson said. "I didn't think we executed as well as we should, but for it to be a first meet, I thought today was something that we can build on and hopefully be able to wake up in the morning and have a better day tomorrow."
TCU will return to the Randal Tyson Track Center to continue action tomorrow at the Razorback Invitational. The Frogs will open competition at 11 a.m. with the women's 3,000 meters.
Players Mentioned
