May 22, 2012

SCHEDULE | START LISTS

FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU track and field program will take the next step in postseason competition this week when it travels to Austin for the 2012 NCAA West Preliminary Round.

"This is always a fun part of the year for us as a team. We have a lot of NCAA qualifiers this week and will be well represented in all areas of our program," said head coach Darryl Anderson. "I feel good about our chances in Austin. Overall, I am expecting a high percentage of our student-athletes to advance to Des Moines."

Following competition in Austin, the top 12 finishers in each open and relay event will qualify for the national semifinal and final rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which will be held June 6-9 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Overall, 22 student-athletes and three relays will compete at Mike A. Myers Stadium this week. The three-day meet will begin on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. with the opening round of the men's javelin. Action on the track Thursday will begin at 4:30 p.m. CT with the first round of the men's 400-meter hurdles.

TCU comes into the NCAA West Preliminary Round having had a breakout showing at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships in its last outing. Overall, the Horned Frogs captured the overall women's team-title and won 11 conference titles to conclude action at the 2012 Mountain West Outdoor Championships at the Air Force Academy. 

NCAA West Preliminary Round Information
Fans not able to attend the NCAA West Preliminary Round this week can follow all the action live on GoFrogs.com. There you will find a link to the live results tab, which is located on the schedule page. A full recap and final results will be posted following each day of competition as well. Fans are also encouraged to follow @TCUTrackField on Twitter. Additional meet information can be found on www.ncaa.com.

Thursday's Opening Round Schedule
TCU will open competition this week in Austin on Thursday at 1 p.m. with the qualifying rounds of the men's long jump and women's shot put, respectively. In other field events, the men's shot put and women's long jump will open at 5:30 p.m. inside Mike A. Myers Stadium.

First round running events will begin on the track at 4:30 p.m. with the running of the men's 400-meter hurdles. Following the hurdles, the men's 100 meters will take to the track at 6:30 p.m., while the women's 100 will follow at 6:55 p.m. After a break in the action, the women's 400 meters will begin at approximately 7:45 p.m. Finally, the women's 800 and 10,000 meters will close the Frogs' first day of the West Preliminary Round at 8:35 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., respectively.

Breaking Down TCU At Preliminary Round
TCU will have representatives in 12 events on the women's side and seven events on the men's side in Austin at the 2012 NCAA West Preliminary Round.

Junior Chaniqua Corinealdi will represent the Frogs in both the 100 and 200 meters, while freshman Lorraine Ugen will look to advance in both the women's 100 and long jump. After a strong showing at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships, the Frogs will look to Quinterra Charles to lead them in the women's 400 meters, while sophomore Briyanni Thomas will take to the track in the 800. Senior Kelly Dawson, a Keller native, has come on late in the year and will try and advance in the women's 5,000 meters Saturday night. Running mate Agnes Kemboi will also be making her first NCAA appearance in the women's 10,000 meters. Finally, fellow junior Larissa Matthews will don the Purple and White in the women's 100-meter hurdles in Austin.

In the field events, senior Whitney Gipson, a five-time All-American and NCAA Indoor Champion, will take to the runway in the women's long jump after winning gold at conference in her last outing. Sophomore Samantha Collins will also compete in the women's long jump, which begins on Thursday. TCU will have two representatives in the throws in Austin as both Kelsey Samuels and newcomer Megan Smith will look to move on to Des Moines.

On the men's side, Charles Silmon and Mark Barnes will represent the Purple and White in the men's 100 meters this week. In the men's 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Lavon Collins will open competition on Thursday.

Cameron Tabor will lead TCU in the men's discus and shot. Fresh off his conference championship performance, Ramone Bailey will begin action in Austin Thursday in the men's long jump, while Cameron Parker, who also won a conference title in his last outing, will take to the runway in men's triple jump, which begins Friday.

The Horned Frogs will also look to advance three relays this week in Austin. The men's 4x100, which currently sits No. 12 in the West Region, will open at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, while the women's 4x100 will begin at 6:15 p.m. Saturday. The women's 4x400 quartet will close competition at the preliminary round on Saturday night.

Horned Frogs Earn All-Conference Honors
After claiming the program's first women's outdoor team-title this past weekend in school history, TCU placed 25 student-athletes on the 2012 All-Mountain West squad the league office announced Tuesday.

Following the meet, head coach Darryl Anderson was named the Mountain West Women's Coach of the Year. In all, 11 different student-athletes garnered championship medals this past weekend in Colorado Springs, Colo. Thirteen student-athletes on the women's side earned all-conference recognition Tuesday, while 12 different men collected all-league accolades.

Headlining the women's selections was freshman Lorraine Ugen, earning all-conference recognition in the 100 meters, long jump and as a member of the women's 4x100 that claimed first-place accolades. In the women's 100 meters, Ugen blasted the competition, clocking a personal and seasonal-best time of 11.35 seconds to claim championship accolades with the third-best time in Mountain West Championship history.

Junior Chaniqua Corinealdi also collected all-league accolades in three different events, including the 100, 200 and 4x100. The Killeen native crossed the finish line in first-place in both the 200 and women's 4x100 relay this past weekend.

The Frogs had three different student-athletes earn all-conference twice, which includes Quinterra Charles, Whitney Gipson and Briyanni Thomas. Charles and Gipson won the women's 400 and long jump, respectively, while all three were either a part of the women's 4x100 or 4x400.

On the men's side, Mark Barnes, Lavon Collins and Narada Jackson, who all placed in the top-3 in their respective events, garnered all-league recognition in three events. Charles Silmon, who captured gold in both the 100 meters and 4x100, followed by earning all-conference recognition in multiple events. In all, the Waco native tied for the second-fastest time in MW Championship history and is the first-ever Mountain West student-athlete to three-peat as conference champion in the men's 100 meters.

What Will They Do For An Encore
Ramone Bailey and Cameron Parker both picked the right time to turn it on late in the year for jumps coach Nic Petersen as both received all-league honors after claiming championship accolades in the men's long jump and triple jump, respectively. The duo could make a big splash for the Frogs this week in Austin and help further solidify TCU's national presence in jumps.

Bailey, a freshman from Jamaica who ranks in the top-50 in the nation, soared to first-place honors in the men's long jump with a leap of 24 feet, 3 ¾ inches. With the win, Bailey became only the second Horned Frog ever to win a Mountain West title in the event. Parker won the men's triple jump for a second-straight year with a personal-best leap of 52 feet, 4 ½ inches. In all, Parker soared to the 15th-best leap in the NCAA this spring and the sixth-best jump in program history.

Gipson's Final Run
Considering the fact that her teammate Lorraine Ugen currently sits No. 1 in the NCAA, senior Whitney Gipson has a lot to prove this week in Austin if she wants to defend her West Preliminary Round title from a year ago in the women's long jump. The five-time All-American, who currently sits No. 3 in the NCAA and is a Bowerman Watch List honoree, will begin her quest this week to repeat as NCAA Champion in the women's long jump after winning the event during the indoor season. If she is able to do so, the senior would join Southern Miss' Tori Bowie, who is currently No. 2 in the NCAA, as the second-straight student-athlete to accomplish that feat in the women's long jump. Bowie won both a year ago.

TCU In The World Rankings
Heading into the NCAA West Preliminary Round, TCU has recorded three marks that currently rank in the top 40 in the world standings according to IAAF. Junior Charles Silmon sits at No. 23 in the world in the men's 100 meters after clocking a time of 10.15 seconds earlier this spring.

Lorraine Ugen and Whitney Gipson have also fared well in the world standings. Both jumpers currently rank No. 7 and No. 16 in the current world standings, respectively. Ugen's jump of 22 feet, 5 inches ranks No. 7, while Gipson's top mark of 21 feet, 10 ¾ inches currently stands as the 16th-best jump in the world. Both leaps are calculated to include wind-assisted marks.

TCU In The National Rankings
The Frogs have had several student-athletes ranked in the top-20 heading into this week's action.

Freshman Lorraine Ugen leads the nation in the women's long jump, leaping 22 feet, 5 inches at the TCU Invitational. She is followed by senior Whitney Gipson at No. 3. Gipson recorded a jump of 21 feet, 10 ¾ inches a few weeks ago at the Texas Relays.

Junior Charles Silmon is currently recognized as the 11th-fastest man in the country in the 100 meters.

In relay action, the men's 4x100 relay has recorded the No. 12 ranked time in the NCAA, while Cameron Parker enters the top-15 in the men's triple jump after his winning jump in the Mountain West.

Up Next
The Horned Frogs will next be in action at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa on June 6-9.