Texas Tech Shines at 2023 Big 12 Indoor Track & Field Championship

By Stratton Sims
Alpha Media – Lubbock

The Men

The Texas Tech Men’s Track and Field Team are your Big 12 champions!
Powered by strong performances from both athletes on track and field events, the Red Raiders were able to tally together 159 points throughout 19 events this weekend, clearing second place Oklahoma State by 48 points.
The men’s program saw major results on the final day of competition, after scoring 32 points in both 60m dash and 60m hurdles.
With five out eight racers spread across the line wearing black, the Red Raiders would go one, two, three, and four in the 60m hurdles, with junior Caleb Dean setting a meet and Texas Tech record at 7.52.
Antoine Andrews would be the next Texas Tech athlete to follow Dean across the line, finishing only seven-hundredths of a second behind him at 7.59.
The 60m dash was powered by six different Red Raiders in the final race, but it was Terrence Jones, the sophomore standout, that would catch the eyes of everyone within the complex. Jones would clock a 6.48 in his final race in the Big 12 championship, but it would be on Friday where Jones would make history, after running a 6.46 in the prelims which equalled the fourth- fastest mark in collegiate history.

Jones would not be the only sprinter to make his imprint in the record books as Courtney Lindsey, a senior in the program, would finish off his last race at the Big 12 Championship in grand fashion. Now holding the fastest collegiate time of the year for the indoor 200m dash, Lindsey’s 20.13 lap would make him the fourth fastest all-time in American history and sixth fastest all-time on the world list.

The Red Raiders would find other points in strong performances from senior Chris Welch in the triple jump, after marking 16.19m on his last attempt to take first place.
Crowd favorite senior Zach Bradford would also deliver late on Friday night, after clearing 5.63m Bradford would take gold in the pole vault, scoring ten points before the No. 3 ranked program in the nation headed into Saturday.

The Texas Tech Men’s Track and Field program was able to secure its third Big 12 Indoor Championship Title led by 24-year Head Coach, Wes Kittley.

The Women

The No. 14 nationally ranked Texas Tech Women’s Track and Field fell short of their expectations at the 2023 Big 12 Indoor Championship, placing fourth overall and falling behind Oklahoma State (1), Texas (2) Oklahoma (3). Although the Lady Red Raiders were only able to score 93.5 points throughout 19 events, efforts from all athletes competing helped in every aspect.

Finding eight points in the pole vault, sophomore Olivia Cade was able to clear 4.19m on her third attempt in the fifth jump, but was not able to hang with first place winner Ariadni Adamopoulou of Oklahoma State. Texas Tech would find gold and silver in the women’s triple jump, after the two juniors Anne- Suzanna Fosther-Katta and Onaara Obamuwagun would both go to clear 13+ m. in their attempts.

Fosther-Katta would find the winning-jump 13.76m on her second attempt, while Obamuwagun leaped for 13.54m in her third attempt, taking second. Senior Demisha Roswell was able to find the top of the winner’s platform, after clocking 8.04 seconds in the 60m hurdles, seven-hundredths of a second clear of the silver. Rosemary Chukwuma also had a notable second place finish in the 60m dash, finishing just two- tenths of a second behind Texas senior Julien Alfred, who set a meet and facility record with a 6.97 on the clock. Alfred currently holds the women’s collegiate record in the 60m dash. Another second place finish that stood out within the final results arose from Halena Rahmaan after setting a new Texas Tech record in the women’s 1000m, breaking the previous record Rahmaan set recently at the Matador Qualifier.

The Lady Red Raiders were able to cap off their Saturday night in the Sports Performance Center by finishing second in the 4x400m race, falling short of Baylor who finished with a time of 3:33.28 in the last event. Although the ladies are only weeks away from the NCAA Indoor Championships, performances down the stretch such as Roswell’s 60m hurdle win or top finishes like Fosther-Katta’s and Obamwugan’s triple jump, just might be enough to earn a selection to the title race.

Overall, the performance by the Texas Tech Men’s and Women’s Track and Field team this year has been nothing but extraordinary, filled with record-breaking efforts and a championship mentality, and lastly the Big 12 Championship title.

Release provided by Stratton Sims Texas Tech Athletics