Season Review
Men's Indoor Progressions
Women's Indoor Progressions
Men's Outdoor Progressions
Women's Outdoor Progressions
June 14, 2007
TCU's 2007 track and field season was filled with high marks both on and off the track. Under third-year head coach Darryl Anderson, Flyin' Frogs earned 11 All-America certificates that were spread among seven student-athletes.
The season was punctuated at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with TCU's women's team earning its highest finish since 1993 by finishing in a tie for 27th with nine points. The women's team also closed the season ranked No. 23 by Trackwire.
Highlighting TCU's season off the track was the unveiling of a state-of-the-art track scoreboard. The scoreboard was presented with a dedication ceremony prior to the TCU Invitational on April 21. Located on the north side of the track, the scoreboard displays real-time results along with graphics and video.
At the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, TCU had seven individuals and all four relay teams compete at the outdoor championships, while one individual and one relay team qualified at the indoor championships.
At the outdoor championships, TCU was one of just six schools in the country that had all four relay teams compete. In fact, TCU and LSU are the only schools in the country to have had all four relay teams qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships each of the past three seasons (2005, 2006, 2007).
Individually, TCU's seven All-America honors were broken down between seven student-athletes. The women's team earned 10 of the honors, while the men's team was represented by Jonathan Jackson.
2007 TCU All-Americans:
Kandis Bell - women's 4x100 (outdoor)
Virgil Hodge - women's 200 (indoor and outdoor), women's 4x100 relay (outdoor)
Jonathan Jackson - men's triple jump (outdoor)
Deborah Jones - women's 4x100 relay (outdoor), women's 4x400 relay (indoor)
Jamee Jones - women's 4x100 relay (outdoor), women's 4x400 relay (indoor)
Nathandra John - women's 4x400 relay (indoor)
Kishelle Paul - women's 4x400 relay (indoor)
Leading the way individually for TCU was Virgil Hodge, who collected three All-America certificates on the year, bringing her career total to five. At the NCAA Indoor Champinships, Hodge earned one certificate by placing seventh in the 200 meters. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Hodge earned two certificates by finishing fifth in the 200 meters and running the anchor leg of TCU's 4x100 relay team that placed fourth.
In addition to Hodge's seventh-place finish at the indoor championships, TCU's other All-America honor came courtesy of a sixth-place finish by the women's 4x400 relay team of Deborah Jones, Kishelle Paul, Jamee Jones and Nathandra John.
At the outdoor championships, Jonathan Jackson placed third in the men's triple jump, earning TCU's first All-America honor in the event since 2001. Joining Hodge on the women's 4x100 relay team was Kandis Bell, Deborah Jones and Jamee Jones.
The Flyin' Frogs also set six school records during the season. Hodge broke her previous record in the indoor 60 and 200 meters with times of 7.31 and 22.99, respectively. John broker the record in the 400 meters with a mark of 53.80. The women's 4x400 relay team of Jamee Jones, Paul, Deborah Jones and John also set a new indoor mark with a time of 3:34.75.
Moving outdoors, Paul broke the school record in the 400-meter hurdles at the Penn Relays (58.18) and then broke her own record at the Midwest Regional (57.70). The women's 4x200 relay team of John, Jamee Jones, Deborah Jones and Hodge also set a new record with a time of 1:33.21 at the Penn Relays.
Academically, the track program had a student-athlete earn first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI honors for the second straight season. After Joe Brown earned the honor in 2006, McKale Davis was honored in 2007 after graduating with a 3.91 GPA in coordinated dietetics.
At the Midwest Regional, sophomore sprinter Justyn Warner shined brightest for TCU. Warner won the regional title in the 100 meters with a mark of 10.30 and was TCU's first male to win the event since Michael Frater won the regional crown in 2003. Warner was one of seven individuals that locked up automatic NCAA bids at the Midwest Regional. Both the men's and women's 4x100 relay teams also received automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, while both mile relay teams earned at-large berths.
In its second season in the Mountain West Conference, TCU once again displayed its strength at the conference meet with 15 event titles. TCU had 16 individuals named to the All-Mountain West Conference Outdoor team. The women's team placed second and the men finished fourth at the outdoor championships in San Diego, Calif. BYU won both the men's and women's league titles.
Individually, Delwayne Delaney earned the Male High-Point Award at the meet after winning the 100 and 200 meters and running a leg on both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams that won titles. As he was at the indoor league championships, freshman Dell Guy was selected Male Freshman of the Year after finishing third in the 200 and 400 meters, and running on TCU's 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.
At the MWC Indoor Championships, TCU's women's team placed third, while the men finished fifth. The Flyin' Frogs won five league titles at the meet and earned three individual honors. Neidra Covington and Guy swept the Female and Male Freshman of the Year honors and Hodge won the Female High-Point Award after winning the 60 and 200 meters.
Also of note at the MWC Outdoor Championships was Candis Kelley winning her fourth straight league title in the women's shot put. A sophomore from College Station, Texas, Kelley has now won the league title in the shot put at all four championships she has participated in.
Despite not participating in the 10,000 meters prior to the league championships, senior McKale Davis won the title with a time of 36:22.75. The win marked TCU's first conference title in the 10,000 meters by a women.
Jonathan Jackson became the first athlete in TCU history to win league titles in both the long jump and triple jump. The title in the triple jump was Jackson's second consecutive MWC title in the event, marking just the second time in school history that a TCU athlete has won consecutive titles in the triple jump. Brandal Lawrence won consecutive league titles in the triple jump at both the 2002 and 2003 C-USA Championships. Jackson was also the first to win both the long jump and triple jump at the MWC Outdoor Championships since Air Force's Anthony Park in 2001.
TCU's success during the season was also demonstrated with the Frogs winning five Mountain West Conference Athlete of the Week awards. Winning the weekly honors were Delaney (March 27), Hodge (Jan. 23, April 24), Kelley (Feb. 13) and Paul (May 2).
With a solid base of returning letterwinners and the addition of a 16-member signing class, 2008 should be another exciting season for the track program.
The signing class is comprised of Amber Anderson of Carrollton, Texas (Carrollton Creekview HS), Edina Brooks of Klein, Texas (Klein HS), Jessica Clarke, New York, N.Y. (Central Arizona CC), Kyericka Cole of Garland, Texas (Garland Naaman Forest HS), Mychal Dungey of Austin, Texas (Austin HS), Stormy Harrison of Cisco, Texas (Cisco HS), Kristal Juarez of Irving, Texas (Irving HS), Matthew Love of Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland Heights HS), Andon Mitchell of Grenada (Central Arizona CC), Shaycoya Myers of Tulsa, Okla. (Edison HS), Jeff Pels of Dallas, Texas (Jesuit HS), Jordan Pitts of Greenville, Texas (Greenville HS), La'Quinta Ross of Greenville, Texas (Greenville HS), Meaghan Ryan of Lake Havasu, Ariz. (Central Arizona CC), Shekila Wilkinson of Broken Arrow, Okla. (Broken Arrow HS) and Sean Zurko of Las Vegas, Nev. (Silverado HS).
Next season, for the first time in Anderson's tenure, the men's program will be off NCAA sanctions and will be able to compete in the postseason for the first time since the 2004 season.
The men's program will also receive an extra boost with All-American Otis McDaniel and NCAA qualifier Tommy Killen returning after redshirting in 2006.
