Thursday, January 30
Lubbock, Texas
All Day
Abilene Christian
at
Texas Tech Invitational
Photo by: Garner Roberts
Wildcats to face nation's best at Texas Tech Invitational
1/29/2020 10:05:00 AM | Track & Field
ABILENE - "It will be BIG!"
That's what track and field aficionado Don Garrett says about this weekend's three-day Texas Tech Invitational, at which he'll have the honor of serving as public address announcer. "This is probably the biggest invitational meet that ACU has attended in some time and the biggest indoor meet in Texas Tech history," he said.
The invitational not only is big in terms of time and teams, but also talent as the assembled schools fill the top 30 of the most recent USTFCCCA power index ratings.
Competing against Abilene Christian on the men's side will be No. 1 Florida State along with No. 3 USC, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 8 Baylor and No. 9 North Carolina A&T (fastest time in the nation in the 4x400 for the men) plus the 18th-ranked Red Raiders and 20th-ranked Cyclones of Iowa State..
The women's events feature student-athletes from No. 1 Southern California, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 12 Florida State, No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 22 Baylor, No. 24 Ohio State, No. 26 Miami and No.30 NC A&T.
Rounding out the massive field are Arizona, Boise State, NC State, Oral Roberts, Prairie View A&M, Tennessee, A&M-Corpus Christi, UNLV (women's team) and Utah (women's team).
This weekend's meet is ACU's second of the 2020 indoor season and first since the Texas A&M-hosted Ted Nelson Invitational, where junior Annina Brandenburg set a new school record in the shot put with a first-place distance of 15.94 meters (52 feet - 3 inches) on her second attempt. Her effort ranks 35th nationally and fifth in the South Central region, as she bested competitors from Kentucky, UTSA, SFA, UT Arlington, Sam Houston State and the host Aggies.
Four additional Wildcats joined Brandenburg on the school's top-10 lists. Distance runners Briahna Gerlach and Irene Rono clocked second and eighth-place 3K times of 9:53.10 and 10:22.29 to land at fourth and 10th in the school rankings. Freshman sprint hurdler Jeremy King and first-year weight thrower Jacob Melcher also slid into the 10th spot of their respective events with marks of 8.28 seconds and 17.45 meters.
Gerlach's 3K mark is No. 10 in the South Central region. Redshirt freshman Tyler Richardson also cracked the region's top-five rankings with his shot put toss of 16.87m (55-4.25).
Overall, ACU student-athletes recorded 11 personal records in College Station.
Events begin Thursday, Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. with the pentathlon. Field events commence Friday at 3 p.m. and running events at 5 p.m. Saturday's final round of competitions start at 10 a.m.
Heat sheets are expected to be made available later today or Thursday.
That's what track and field aficionado Don Garrett says about this weekend's three-day Texas Tech Invitational, at which he'll have the honor of serving as public address announcer. "This is probably the biggest invitational meet that ACU has attended in some time and the biggest indoor meet in Texas Tech history," he said.
The invitational not only is big in terms of time and teams, but also talent as the assembled schools fill the top 30 of the most recent USTFCCCA power index ratings.
Competing against Abilene Christian on the men's side will be No. 1 Florida State along with No. 3 USC, No. 5 Texas A&M, No. 8 Baylor and No. 9 North Carolina A&T (fastest time in the nation in the 4x400 for the men) plus the 18th-ranked Red Raiders and 20th-ranked Cyclones of Iowa State..
The women's events feature student-athletes from No. 1 Southern California, No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 12 Florida State, No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 22 Baylor, No. 24 Ohio State, No. 26 Miami and No.30 NC A&T.
Rounding out the massive field are Arizona, Boise State, NC State, Oral Roberts, Prairie View A&M, Tennessee, A&M-Corpus Christi, UNLV (women's team) and Utah (women's team).
This weekend's meet is ACU's second of the 2020 indoor season and first since the Texas A&M-hosted Ted Nelson Invitational, where junior Annina Brandenburg set a new school record in the shot put with a first-place distance of 15.94 meters (52 feet - 3 inches) on her second attempt. Her effort ranks 35th nationally and fifth in the South Central region, as she bested competitors from Kentucky, UTSA, SFA, UT Arlington, Sam Houston State and the host Aggies.
Four additional Wildcats joined Brandenburg on the school's top-10 lists. Distance runners Briahna Gerlach and Irene Rono clocked second and eighth-place 3K times of 9:53.10 and 10:22.29 to land at fourth and 10th in the school rankings. Freshman sprint hurdler Jeremy King and first-year weight thrower Jacob Melcher also slid into the 10th spot of their respective events with marks of 8.28 seconds and 17.45 meters.
Gerlach's 3K mark is No. 10 in the South Central region. Redshirt freshman Tyler Richardson also cracked the region's top-five rankings with his shot put toss of 16.87m (55-4.25).
Overall, ACU student-athletes recorded 11 personal records in College Station.
Events begin Thursday, Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. with the pentathlon. Field events commence Friday at 3 p.m. and running events at 5 p.m. Saturday's final round of competitions start at 10 a.m.
Heat sheets are expected to be made available later today or Thursday.
Players Mentioned
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/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
/ Track & Field
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