The Red Raider track & field program opened the doors to the Sports Performance Center this morning, bringing in nationally top-ranked teams for the inaugural Corky Classic to the day with six first-place finishes and four All-Time marks.
Culver stole the show as fans poured in to watch the Lubbock local end the day claiming national, world and NCAA leading recognition.
Starting with passes on his first three bars, Culver totaled seven first-attempt clearances on his eight cleared heights. At 2.24m Culver had already entered the Texas Tech record book. At 2.30m, he was not only the school record holder, but the national and world leader. To conclude competition, Culver soared over a final bar of 2.33m/7-7.75 to hold the fourth-best high jump clearance in NCAA history. This height is not only the No. 4 All-Time NCAA mark, but the highest jump in the NCAA since 2013.
“We just wanted to perform for Corky,” Culver explained. “He was a big part of Tech Athletics and Texas Tech University and especially Tech track… I knew that he would be proud. I was thinking about him throughout the whole competition and know that he was looking down on us happy today.”
“We know Trey is good, a two-time National Champion, but today was just off the charts,” said head coach Wes Kittley. “I’ve got to give the credit to Coach Thomas on that one”.
But Culver was not the only one to have a big day in the jumps. Charles Brown secured the No. 2 All-Time TTU mark of 8.03m/26-4.25 in his second pass of the men’s long jump. This indoor personal best currently leads the nation by over eight-inches and tops the world list.
Zarriea Willis also snagged a first-place finish for the Red Raiders with her 1.82m/5-11.50 final mark. This height ties her already No. 3 all-time spot in the Texas Tech records.
Freshman G’Auna Edwards secured the final win for the jumps squad as she had a 5.99m/19-8 leap in her last attempt.
Norman Grimes claimed the first Red Raider win of the Corky Classic in the men’s 600Y run, ending at an 1:11.78 pace.
In the 400m dash, newcomer Tyreek Mathis took first-place and hit a new lifetime best of 46.48, improving from his previous best of 46.93 for Penn State at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships last year.
Another No. 2 All-Time record was secured this afternoon by sprinter Divine Oduduru, who finished first amongst attached athletes with his 6.66 60-meter dash time.
Overall, Tech totaled 19 top-three finishes over the 26 events in which they competed.
“It was a great start, I can’t complain about that,” said Kittley. “I think the facility was just unbelievable. Every coach that came in here told me this is the most fabulous place they have been in.”
COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS
