July 19, 2007
GoFrogs.com recently sat down with TCU track and field head coach Darryl Anderson as he prepares for his fourth year with the Flyin' Frogs.
In 2007, TCU earned 11 All-America certificates among seven student-athletes. The women's team closed the season ranked No. 23 by Trackwire. In conference action, TCU won 15 event titles and had 16 individuals named to the All-Mountain West Conference Outdoor team.
GoFrogs.com: What was this past season like?
Darryl Anderson: It was full of up-and-downs. At the end, I thought it went really well with our conference finishes, All-America honors and the amount of conference champions we had. The NCAA meet was highlighted by Jonathan Jackson getting third in the triple jump, the women's 4x100 relay finishing fourth overall and Virgil Hodge placing fifth in the 200 meters. It turned out fairly decent for us. We are always going to work to do more. At the end of the day when it was all said and done, we were functional.
GF: How did your athletes perform at the conference level?
DA: I thought they performed well. We had several conference champions and all-conference performers, while receiving many awards and accolades.
GF: How does winning awards sell your program?
DA: I think anything that's positive in nature, like winning a conference title or being an All-American, is positive. Our previous seasons are definitely going to help us in the direction that we want to obtain.
GF: How does your athletes competing internationally help your program?
DA: When you have kids compete internationally, like Virgil Hodge winning NACAC by running 22.73 in the 200 meters, it's always going to help. Former athletes like Nathandra John and Delwayne Delaney competing internationally shows that the TCU athletes are moving forward. Individuals such as Lewis Banda competing at the All-Africa Games and Khadevis Robinson winning U.S. Championships shows that TCU is a factor and a force at the highest level of NCAA track and field. TCU is sprinkled everywhere.
GF: What are your thoughts on hosting three home meets next season?
DA: I'm excited. It's the second season for the Horned Frog Invite. There will be a high school section outdoors and have four collegiate teams competing on TCU's campus. The TCU Invitational has been an exceptional meet every year and we are looking forward to continuing that. The cherry on top is definitely having the Mountain West Championships here on campus. That is a statement in itself. It shows that our facility is really user friendly towards the conference. It's a great thing.
GF: Talk a little bit about your student-athletes coming in this fall?
DA: Individually, we have a young lady coming in named Shekila Wilkinson (Broken Arrow, Okla.) that we are excited about. She's an athlete that we think can contribute right away and immediately become a regional qualifier. This past year she won the 100 meters at the Oklahoma State 6A Championships for the second year in a row. We're excited about Kristal Juarez (Irving, Texas), who finished second in the 400 meters at the 2007 5A Texas State Championships. We have had success with quarter milers since I've been here and we feel like she can continue that success. Amber Anderson (Carrollton, Texas), who will compete in both the long and triple jump, is a good athlete that is young in track years that we're excited about. She ranked ninth in the state in the long jump. Coach Jeff Petersmeyer will do an excellent job at nurturing her into the type of athlete we need. La'Quinta Ross (Greenville, Texas), a multi-talented athlete, is someone that we are excited about as well.
We added another presence in the throws with Stormy Harrison (Cisco, Texas). She will throw both the shot and the disc for us after being nationally ranked in both at Cisco High School. It allows us more diversity and gives Candis Kelley, who won the Mountain West Indoor and Outdoor Title in the shot put for the second straight season, a training partner. They will be able to push each other and make each other better. Assistant coach John Kenneson is doing a super job enhancing that unit.
We also added a couple of junior college kids in Meaghan Ryan (Lake Havasu, Ariz.) and Jessica Clarke (New York, N.Y.) that bring a lot to the table and will add a lot of different elements. Clarke will compete in all sprints and on both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, while Meaghan will help us in the heptathlon and pentathlon.
On the men's side, we had a really good recruiting year. We added Mychal Dungey (Austin, Texas), who's one of the fastest seniors in the country in the 200 meters. He's got great range. Jordan Pitts (Greenville, Texas) was one of the best hurdlers in the state of Texas and will be a candidate for both of our relay teams. He was the state runner-up in the 110-meter high hurdles at the 2007 and 2006 Texas 4A State Championships. Matt Love (Cleveland, Ohio) was a late bloomer that has exhibited great range. He will help fill a void in the 400 meters. Sean Zurko (Nevada, Las Vegas) also has great range and can run the mile and the quarter. Finally, Andon Mitchell (Grenada) will add to our sprints unit after a great career at Central Arizona Community College.
Overall, I like to have a team that has a lot of range and can do a variety of things. That is how we got better this past year and that's how we are going to be better this year. I feel that the pieces are in place to have a great opportunity to start moving back up the ranks.
GF: What are your thoughts on your team heading into next season?
DA: I think next year on the women's side we will see a team that is young and will have to recreate themselves with the loss of several key members. I'm looking forward to that. It is going to be a lot of fun.
When you look at this men's team, we've got a chance to come back and be back in the game again. It's almost like pushing the reset button. It is great that we have Otis McDaniel, Jonathan Jackson and many other returning to add to the talented incoming kids. I'm elated and ready to get this thing going. I'm bouncing off the walls ready to go.
GF: What's the difference between the program when you first got here compared to now?
DA: We are more stable. The first thing we had to stabilize was academics. Our student-athletes had to understand that the program only goes as far as your grades let you go. I think we have done that and had academic success.
We have to start having kids learn to become leaders. At the end of the day, there are a lot of team dynamics that go into this sport. If you are not taking it and approaching it as a team, you are never going to have long-term success.
The bottom line is we are setting this up to move to the next level. We have the desire to be a top-10 team, a top-4 team and the desire to walk away with the big trophy at the end. I think that we can do these things.
