In each of his last three meets, Texas Tech track & field’s Trey Culver has notched a new personal-best in the men’s high jump, doing so twice on Saturday, April 2, at the Texas Relays.
But that’s not even the half of it.
The first of those three meets on March 11 earned him the NCAA Indoor national title (2.23m/7-3.75). Last weekend in front of the Lubbock faithful at the Texas Tech Open, he recorded another first-place finish behind an outdoor-best 2.21m/7-3. On Saturday, he matched his indoor PR and took it a step further.
He and Bradley Adkins opened the event with first attempt clearances at 2.09m/6-10.75. Culver would sail over the next bar, 2.14m/7-0.25 on his first jump as well and then made it over 2.19m/7-2.25 on jump two.
The field then quickly dwindled down to Culver and Jeron Robinson, who’s won two of the last three Division-II titles in the event, pitting the most recent NCAA D-I and D-II indoor champions against each other. Culver tied his indoor best on his second attempt at the next height, 2.23m/7-3.75, then broke it after a successful second jump over 2.26m/7-5.
Although Culver and Robinson topped off at the same height, Culver received second due to the number of attempts to clear the previous heights. However, along with it being a personal-best, Culver’s mark takes over the NCAA D-I lead and is tied for fifth all-time at Texas Tech.
In section A of the women’s long jump, Gionna Jackson brought home a third-place finish after posting a season-best mark. With a slight tailwind (+0.7), Jackson leapt to distance of 6.16m/20-2.5 on her first attempt in the event for her top attempt of the afternoon.
Her jump propelled her to No. 8 on the NCAA West qualifying list, up 24 spots from where she ranked in the standings coming into the weekend.
The women’s 4×400 relay put up another solid performance in Saturday’s final. In the prelims, the quartet of Taylor Rockwell, Sara Limp, Adria Parker and Maygen Smith recorded the fifth-fastest time among qualifiers at 3:46.65. On Saturday, they shaved six seconds off their time and placed fourth, clocking in at 3:40.69.
The Red Raiders kept the same running order with Rockwell leading off, giving the baton to Limp, who was in fifth at the split after 500 meters. Limp handed it off to Parker, who took over fourth for a moment, but was back in fifth at the exchange with Smith. Running the anchor leg, Smith battled back and climbed into fourth on the final straightway and held the spot as she crossed the finish line.
The Red Raiders will return to action on Saturday, April 9, at the ACU/Wes Kittley Invitational at Elmer Gray Stadium in Abilene, Texas.
