Thursday, March 18
Abilene, Texas
All Day
Abilene Christian
vs
Wes Kittley Invitational
Photo by: Michael Wade
Wildcats open outdoor season with Wes Kittley Invitational
3/17/2021 6:00:00 PM | Track & Field
ABILENE - Abilene Christian track and field will play host to its first outdoor meet at Elmer Gray Stadium in close to two years this weekend's seventh-annual Wes Kittley Invitational.
Events begin Thursday, March 18 with the decathlon 100m dash commencing at 1:30 p.m. followed by the heptathlon 100m Hurdles at 1:50 p.m.
While the multis conclude Friday afternoon, field events will get started at 3 p.m. at the Wildcats' new throwing arena located on the southeast corner of Ambler Ave. and Judge Ely Blvd.
Friday's track event include the men's and women's steeplechase, 1,500m run and 5K.
Saturday's full slate of events includes the javelin throw at 10:30 a.m., a 2 p.m. singing of the National Anthem followed by three hours of track events, starting with the 4x100-meter relay and concluding with the 4x400-meter relay.
ACU is one of approximately 17 schools entered at this weekend's meet, which is named after the former Wildcat and current Texas Tech Track and Field head coach Wes Kittley.
While at ACU, Kittley's Wildcats thrived during a 16-year tenure (1983-99) that included a record 29 NCAA Division II national team championships, 10 Olympic qualifiers, three Pan-American Games athletes, five World University Games athletes, 16 world championships qualifiers and three United States national champions.
Kittley won his first national championship in 1985 when his women's Wildcat squad won the NCAA D-II outdoor championship, a title he would win again in '86, '87 and '88. When ACU combined their programs in 1993, Kittley was selected to head the men's team and won the D-II indoor title in his first season.
Since leaving Abilene for Texas Tech at the start of the 1999-2000 season, Kittley has greatly added to his championship legacy as he has coached 257 First Team All-Americas, 173 Big 12 Champions, 28 NCAA Champions and 13 Olympians (eight medalists). His 2019 men's team claimed the first NCAA Championship in the history of men's athletics at Tech, and his teams have combined to win nine conference titles and posted 14 top-10 NCAA finishes.
The Red Raiders and Wildcats will be joined by a bevy of regional teams including neighboring McMurry and Hardin-Simmons plus former DII rivals Texas A&M-Kingsville, Angelo State and Cameron.
The Wildcats' women's team is coming off a championship finish at the Southland Conference Indoor meet, where they edged Northwestern State for the team title, 107-103.
All of women's team's medalist are scheduled to be in action this weekend, including gold medalists Annina Brandenburg (shot put / javelin / discus), Zoe Spinn (high jump), Taylor Tolen (100m / 200m) and Irene Rono (1500m), who on Monday competed at NCAA XC Nationals.
The men's team placed fifth at conference with 65 points and were led by two-time medal winning thrower Tyler Richardson, who won the weight throw and placed second in the shot put. The Wildcats also received medals from Thomas Wilson III (weight throw) and freshman sprinter Jack Marshall, who ran a 6.86 (60m) and 21.33 (200m) in earning two bronze medals.
Marshall is entered into the 100m and 200m dashes this weekend, while Richardson will go in the discus, hammer and shot put. Wilson will throw the discus and hammer as well.
Events begin Thursday, March 18 with the decathlon 100m dash commencing at 1:30 p.m. followed by the heptathlon 100m Hurdles at 1:50 p.m.
While the multis conclude Friday afternoon, field events will get started at 3 p.m. at the Wildcats' new throwing arena located on the southeast corner of Ambler Ave. and Judge Ely Blvd.
Friday's track event include the men's and women's steeplechase, 1,500m run and 5K.
Saturday's full slate of events includes the javelin throw at 10:30 a.m., a 2 p.m. singing of the National Anthem followed by three hours of track events, starting with the 4x100-meter relay and concluding with the 4x400-meter relay.
ACU is one of approximately 17 schools entered at this weekend's meet, which is named after the former Wildcat and current Texas Tech Track and Field head coach Wes Kittley.
While at ACU, Kittley's Wildcats thrived during a 16-year tenure (1983-99) that included a record 29 NCAA Division II national team championships, 10 Olympic qualifiers, three Pan-American Games athletes, five World University Games athletes, 16 world championships qualifiers and three United States national champions.
Kittley won his first national championship in 1985 when his women's Wildcat squad won the NCAA D-II outdoor championship, a title he would win again in '86, '87 and '88. When ACU combined their programs in 1993, Kittley was selected to head the men's team and won the D-II indoor title in his first season.
Since leaving Abilene for Texas Tech at the start of the 1999-2000 season, Kittley has greatly added to his championship legacy as he has coached 257 First Team All-Americas, 173 Big 12 Champions, 28 NCAA Champions and 13 Olympians (eight medalists). His 2019 men's team claimed the first NCAA Championship in the history of men's athletics at Tech, and his teams have combined to win nine conference titles and posted 14 top-10 NCAA finishes.
The Red Raiders and Wildcats will be joined by a bevy of regional teams including neighboring McMurry and Hardin-Simmons plus former DII rivals Texas A&M-Kingsville, Angelo State and Cameron.
The Wildcats' women's team is coming off a championship finish at the Southland Conference Indoor meet, where they edged Northwestern State for the team title, 107-103.
All of women's team's medalist are scheduled to be in action this weekend, including gold medalists Annina Brandenburg (shot put / javelin / discus), Zoe Spinn (high jump), Taylor Tolen (100m / 200m) and Irene Rono (1500m), who on Monday competed at NCAA XC Nationals.
The men's team placed fifth at conference with 65 points and were led by two-time medal winning thrower Tyler Richardson, who won the weight throw and placed second in the shot put. The Wildcats also received medals from Thomas Wilson III (weight throw) and freshman sprinter Jack Marshall, who ran a 6.86 (60m) and 21.33 (200m) in earning two bronze medals.
Marshall is entered into the 100m and 200m dashes this weekend, while Richardson will go in the discus, hammer and shot put. Wilson will throw the discus and hammer as well.
Players Mentioned
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