March 4, 2004
Several members of the TCU track & field squad will travel north this weekend to take part in the Iowa State Last Chance Meet in Ames, Iowa on Saturday.
The "Last Chance" meet is exactly that - one final opportunity for the athletes to improve on their marks with an eye on moving up on the descending order list prior to the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, March 12-13.
Those Frogs expected to compete this weekend include:
* Jabari Fields in the 60 meter dash. Fields has been hampered for much of the season with a hamstring injury, but was healthy last weekend in Houston when he finished second in the 60 and third in the 200, logging provisional marks in both events. His 6.69 second 60-meter dash ties for the ninth fastest time in the nation this year. He will not compete in the 200, where his 21.23 second mark (converted) is tied for 38th on the descending order list.
* Donita Harmon in the 200 meter dash. Harmon was the Conference USA champion at the one lap indoor distance, posting a gold medal-winning time of 24.09 seconds. She was an NCAA indoor qualifier a year ago in the 200 with a career-best time of 23.57 seconds. Her best mark this season was a 23.83 clocking at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville on February 13. She currently ranks 35th on the descending order list.
* Mary Kinyanjui in the 5000 meter run. Kinyanjui was the high-point scorer at the Conference USA indoor championships a week ago, scoring 22 points while competing in the mile, 3,000 and 5,000. She took the gold medal in the 5K event with a time of 17:02.34. She will be looking to run under 16:45.00 to put herself in contention for an NCAA berth.
* MaKeatha Cooper in the 60 meter hurdles. The freshman from Grandview, Missouri has had an impressive first season on the track at TCU, showing solid improvement as the year has progressed. She won the Conference USA title last Saturday with a season-best time of 8.30 seconds, which ranks in a tie for 21st in the nation. She lopped eight one-hundredths of a second off her previous best mark with that gold medal performance.
* Women's 4x400 meter relay. The quartet of Larissa Bakasa, Donita Harmon, Deborah Jones and Marquita Davis currently owns the 13th fastest time in the nation with a school record clocking of 3:39.56, accomplished at the Razorback Invitational on February 13. They easily won the Conference USA crown a week ago with a time of 3:42.58.
*Cleavon Dillon in the long jump. Dillon, a junior, is still trying to regain the form that earned him a fourth place finish at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships as a freshman. He jumped a career-best 7.86 meters (25-9.50) at that meet two years ago. This season his best effort is a jump of 7.29 meters (23-11.00), set at the Oklahoma Indoor Classic on January 17. He placed fourth at the C-USA meet last weekend with a best mark of 7.23 meters (23-08.75).
* Aundre Edwards in the long jump. Edwards has been hampered by injuries this season, but looked like he was starting to put it all together last weekend at the Conference USA meet. He jumped a provisional 7.60 meters (24-11.25) to defend his conference indoor title in the long jump event. He was able to complete all six jumps in a competition for the first time this season. He is currently ranked in a tie for 15th on the descending order list. Edwards is certainly capable of a big jump, as he placed fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year with a jump of 7.90 meters and owns the school record indoors at 7.87 meters (25-10.00).
* Chris Peoples in the high jump. Peoples, a national qualifier last year during the outdoor season, has competed in just two high jump events this season. He jumped an NCAA provisional 2.17 meters (7-01.50) at the Razorback Invitational on February 13, then placed third in the Conference USA meet with a jump of 2.07 meters (6-9.50). He currently is tied for 16th on the NCAA descending order list.
The Frogs have already automatically qualified three events for the NCAA meet. Jerry Harris owns the nation's fastest time in the 400-meter dash with a school-record time of 45.52 seconds. Jackson Langat is the nation's leader at 800 meters with a time of 1:46.09. He is looking to improve on a pair of sixth place finishes from the 2003 NCAA indoor and outdoor championships at 800 meters. The men's 4x400 meter relay team owns the nation's third fastest time with a season-best mark of 3:06.03. That foursome features Brett Wilson, Jackson Langat, Dwayne Lynes-Bell and Jerry Harris.
