Texas Tech track & field will be represented by 10 individuals in eight events at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field on July 1-10 in Eugene, Oregon.
The group is a mix of current athletes or those who have recently finished their eligibility, as well as alums and one future Red Raider. Representing Texas Tech at the Trials are: Bradley Adkins (high jump), Hannah Carson (javelin & discus), Kyle Collins (400m), Trey Culver (high jump), Norman Grimes (400H), Candace Jackson (200m), Omo Osaghae (110H), Gil Roberts (400m), Kole Weldon (discus) and Jason Young (discus).
The top three finishers in each event will punch their ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, as long as they have achieved the Olympic standard at the Trials or between now and May 1, 2015. The Red Raiders who have achieved the Olympic standard already are: Bradley Adkins (high jump), Hannah Carson (discus only), Kyle Collins (400m), Gil Roberts (400m) and Jason Young (discus).
Coverage of the meet will be broadcast live on NBC, NBC Sports Network, and online at NBCSports.com. Live results will be provided through flashresults.com. Below is the when each Red Raider will compete in Eugene:
Friday, July 1
– Hannah Carson (Discus Qualifying) – 6:50 p.m. CDT
– Kyle Collins (400m 1st Round) – 7:15 p.m. CDT
– Gil Roberts (400m 1st Round) – 7:15 p.m. CDT
Saturday, July 2
– Hannah Carson (Discus Final) – 12:45 p.m. CDT
– Kyle Collins (400m Semifinal) – 3:46 p.m. CDT
– Gil Roberts (400m Semifinal) – 3:46 p.m. CDT
Sunday, July 3
– Kyle Collins (400m Final) – 6:48 p.m. CDT
– Gil Roberts (400m Final) – 6:48 p.m. CDT
Thursday, July 7
– Hannah Carson (Javelin Qualifying) – 5:30 p.m. CDT
– Jason Young (Discus Qualifying) – 8 p.m. CDT
– Kole Weldon (Discus Qualifying) – 8 p.m. CDT
– Norman Grimes (400H 1st Round) – 8:53 p.m. CDT
Friday, July 8
– Omo Osaghae (110H 1st Round) – 5:02 p.m. CDT
– Candace Jackson (200m 1st Round) – 5:30 p.m. CDT
– Bradley Adkins (High Jump Qualifying) – 6 p.m. CDT
– Trey Culver (High Jump Qualifying) – 6 p.m. CDT
– Norman Grimes (400H Semifinal) – 6:47 p.m. CDT
Saturday, July 9
– Hannah Carson (Javelin Final) – 4:45 p.m. CDT
– Omo Osaghae (110H Semifinal) – 6:25 p.m. CDT
– Candace Jackson (200m Semifinal) – 7:03 p.m. CDT
– Omo Osaghae (110H Final) – 7:52 p.m. CDT
Sunday, July 10
– Bradley Adkins (High Jump Final) – 5 p.m. CDT
– Trey Culver (High Jump Final) – 5 p.m. CDT
– Norman Grimes (400H Final) – 6:51 p.m. CDT
– Candace Jackson (200m Final) – 7:11 p.m. CDT
Adkins qualified for the Trials and hit the Olympic standard at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 13. In the same place he finished runner-up at the NCAA Indoor Championships a year earlier, Adkins flew over the bar set at 2.29m/7-6, tying the school record and taking a then-NCAA lead in the event. He secured second team (indoor) and first team (outdoor) All-America honors in 2016, while placing second at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in the event.
Carson holds the standard in the discus and is mere centimeters away from the javelin standard. She hit the discus mark at the Masked Rider Open on May 6 in Lubbock when she heaved it to a school-record distance of 61.97m/203-4. At that moment, she became the first female collegian to ever break the 60-meter barrier in both the discus & javelin in the same NCAA career, let alone the same season. Earlier in the year, she broke her own school record in the javelin with a toss of 60.42m/198-3. She would break that again at the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year, with her final throw landing at 61.20m/200-9. With that throw, she became the first female collegian to ever break 200’ in both events.
Collins put together a strong season in the 400-meter dash, qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships and for the NCAA West Preliminaries during the outdoor season. In Waco on April 23, Collins circled the track to a personal-best and No. 8 mark in school history at 45.33 seconds. He was also a staple on Tech’s fastest 4×100-meter relay in 2016 and on the second team All-America indoor & outdoor 4×400-meter relay teams.
Culver captured NCAA gold at the Indoor Championships after being the only competitor in the field to clear 2.23m/7-3.75 in Birmingham. He made Texas Tech the first school to win back-to-back NCAA Indoor men’s high jump titles with different athletes. He carried that momentum into the third outdoor meet of the season, Texas Relays, where he cleared 2.26m/7-5 to take a then-NCAA lead in the event. He claimed the Big 12 Outdoor title in the high jump, making it the third-straight year a Red Raider has won the event, and brought home first team All-America honors at both NCAA Championship meets in 2016.
Grimes, an incoming freshman, enters the meet with a time of 50.10 in the 400-meter hurdles, set in Edmonton on Aug. 1, 2015. He was the 2015 U.S. Junior National Champion, as well as the IAAF World Youth Champion after clocking in with a time of 49.11 at the Championships in Colombia. Earlier this season, he ran at the Texas Tech Open and finished second with a time of 50.50.
Jackson checks into the meet with a time of 23.15 seconds in the 200-meter dash, coming in Edmonton on July 11, 2015. Her name can be found throughout the Texas Tech record book in the 200 & 400 meters, while still holding the school record in the 4×100-meter relay at 43.53 in 2012. Jackson racked up 11 All-America honors during her time in the scarlet & black.
Osaghae heads into the Trials at 13.60 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles. At the Masked Rider Open on May 6, Osaghae clocked in with a time of 13.63 seconds, placing second in the event. He owns both the 110H & 60H school records, as well as 12 of the top 20 times in school history among both events.
Roberts holds one of the top five times in the 400-meter dash in the field at 44.88 seconds. The mark came on May 7, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. Roberts is also the school record holder in both the indoor (45.71) & outdoor (44.84) in the 400-meter dash, along with holding eight of the top 20 times in Tech history among both seasons.
Weldon, who is a year removed from time as a collegiate competitor at Texas Tech, comes in with a mark of 62.48m/205-0 in the discus set on May 28 in Salinas, California. Another accomplished collegian while at Texas Tech, Weldon holds the No. 3 mark in the discus in the Tech record books, while also owning all of the top 10 marks in the hammer and all but one in the shot put in the school records.
Young, who competed for the scarlet & black from 2000-04, was a 2011 World Championships finalist and competed in the qualifying round of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He holds the No. 13 U.S. & No. 26 all-time world discus mark at 69.90m/229-4, set in Lubbock in 2010. Earlier this season at the Masked Rider Open, he won the men’s discus invitational with a toss of 64.42m/211-04. Young still holds the No. 2, 6, 7, 9 & 10 marks in school history.
(Courtesy: Texas Tech Sports Information Department)
