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The Texas Tech track and field team has been counting on Temitope Adeshina almost from the moment the Nigerian standout arrived on campus, earning first-team all-America status twice as a freshman and competing at the Paris Olympics.
The Red Raiders have been counting on Tamiah Washington for, oh, about the past month, when the third-year sophomore from Utica, New York, came into her own.
On Saturday, Adeshina shared first place in the high jump and Washington took second in the triple jump, leading the Tech women to 10th place as a team at the NCAA indoor championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Tech women scored a program record 21 1/2 points, nine coming from Adeshina and eight from Washington.
The Tech men, who won the title last year in Boston, scored 22 points to tie for eighth.
More: Texas Tech track and field's Shelby Frank all-American again at NCAA championships
More: Texas Tech track and field teams sweep Big 12 titles; Malachi Snow co-high-point scorer
"It was a really good day for our girls," Tech coach Wes Kittley said, "which, we had a tough day yesterday. This really put a good taste in my mouth for finishing it off and finishing in the top 10. To do it with the men and women together, to be in the top 10, I was really pleased."
The Tech men shot up the board by finishing second in the last event, the 1,600-meter relay, with Jonathan Crawford, Josh Bour, George Garcia and DeSean Boyce running 3 minutes, 3.77 seconds, the third-best time in program history.
In her 2024 freshman season, Adeshina got fourth at the NCAA indoor and third at the NCAA outdoor. On SAtudray, Georgia's Elena Kulichenko and Adeshina cleared 6 feet, 4 1/2 inches and, rather than go to a jump-off, opted to be co-champions.
"They just agreed, the girls did amongst themselves," Kittley said. "If I had been out there, I probably would have told her, 'No. We're going to continue to jump,' but they had already told the high-jump referee that they wanted to both be crowned as national champion.
"Kind of like the Olympics," Kittley added, referring to the 2020 Tokyo Games in which men's high jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi agreed to share the gold rather than go to a jump-off.
Adeshina became the seventh Tech woman to win an NCAA individual title, joining distance runners Leigh Daniel and Sally Kipyego, thrower D'Andra Carter, high jumper Zarriea Willis and triple jumpers Ruth Usoro and Ruta Lasmane. Kipyego won nine titles, Daniel, Willis and Usoro two each.
In her first two years, Washington never finished higher than 10th in a conference meet. This year, she cracked the 43-foot barrier for the first time in late January, went 44-3 1/2 to win the Big 12 title two weeks ago and went 45-0 1/4 on her last attempt Saturday to rocket up from sixth place.
"Man, what a fantastic competition for Tamiah," Kittley said.
Washington's mark was identical to that of Oklahoma's Agur Dwol with first place decided on the tiebreaker of next-best jump. Both had a 44-6 in their series, and Dwol's next longest was 44-2 3/4 to Washington's 44-2 1/2.
A month ago, Lasmane suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon. Losing the reigning NCAA champion and seven-time first-team all-American damaged the team's chances of a high finish. Washington's eight points, in effect, replaced what the Red Raiders would have expected from Lasmane.
"She's just gained a lot of confidence," Kittley said. "I think when Ruta went down, we told that group they've got to step up. Man, she's just gained confidence — and she's running faster. That's the main thing: On the runway, she's been more aggressive."
After winning the Big 12 title on March 1, Washington said she drew inspiration from her boyfriend Terrence Jones, the three-time NCAA champion who finished his Tech career last year.
"He told me he had trouble his first year here, too, and he wasn't as confident," Washington said. "And then I'd seen how he progressed and how he became national record holder, NCAA record holder, how he won so many championships. I'm like, 'If he can do it, so can I.' He kind of tried to instill that hope in me."
The Tech women got four points from Shelby Frank's fifth-place finish in the weight throw and one-half point from Evelyn Lavielle's tie for eighth in the high jump.
In addition to the relay, the Tech men were led by Malachi Snow scoring in two events and Shaemar Uter achieving first-team all-America status by finishing sixth in the 400 meters for the second year in a row, running 46.20 seconds.
Snow ran 6.59 for seventh place in the 60 meters. Then Snow and Antoine Andrews ran 7.54 and 7.56, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles for third and sixth place, respectively, matching their pre-meet rankings exactly.
The Oregon women and the Southern California men won the team championships.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech track and field's Temitope Adeshina wins NCAA title
Continue reading...
The Red Raiders have been counting on Tamiah Washington for, oh, about the past month, when the third-year sophomore from Utica, New York, came into her own.
On Saturday, Adeshina shared first place in the high jump and Washington took second in the triple jump, leading the Tech women to 10th place as a team at the NCAA indoor championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Tech women scored a program record 21 1/2 points, nine coming from Adeshina and eight from Washington.
The Tech men, who won the title last year in Boston, scored 22 points to tie for eighth.
More: Texas Tech track and field's Shelby Frank all-American again at NCAA championships
More: Texas Tech track and field teams sweep Big 12 titles; Malachi Snow co-high-point scorer
"It was a really good day for our girls," Tech coach Wes Kittley said, "which, we had a tough day yesterday. This really put a good taste in my mouth for finishing it off and finishing in the top 10. To do it with the men and women together, to be in the top 10, I was really pleased."
The Tech men shot up the board by finishing second in the last event, the 1,600-meter relay, with Jonathan Crawford, Josh Bour, George Garcia and DeSean Boyce running 3 minutes, 3.77 seconds, the third-best time in program history.
In her 2024 freshman season, Adeshina got fourth at the NCAA indoor and third at the NCAA outdoor. On SAtudray, Georgia's Elena Kulichenko and Adeshina cleared 6 feet, 4 1/2 inches and, rather than go to a jump-off, opted to be co-champions.
"They just agreed, the girls did amongst themselves," Kittley said. "If I had been out there, I probably would have told her, 'No. We're going to continue to jump,' but they had already told the high-jump referee that they wanted to both be crowned as national champion.
"Kind of like the Olympics," Kittley added, referring to the 2020 Tokyo Games in which men's high jumpers Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi agreed to share the gold rather than go to a jump-off.
Adeshina became the seventh Tech woman to win an NCAA individual title, joining distance runners Leigh Daniel and Sally Kipyego, thrower D'Andra Carter, high jumper Zarriea Willis and triple jumpers Ruth Usoro and Ruta Lasmane. Kipyego won nine titles, Daniel, Willis and Usoro two each.
In her first two years, Washington never finished higher than 10th in a conference meet. This year, she cracked the 43-foot barrier for the first time in late January, went 44-3 1/2 to win the Big 12 title two weeks ago and went 45-0 1/4 on her last attempt Saturday to rocket up from sixth place.
"Man, what a fantastic competition for Tamiah," Kittley said.
Washington's mark was identical to that of Oklahoma's Agur Dwol with first place decided on the tiebreaker of next-best jump. Both had a 44-6 in their series, and Dwol's next longest was 44-2 3/4 to Washington's 44-2 1/2.
A month ago, Lasmane suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon. Losing the reigning NCAA champion and seven-time first-team all-American damaged the team's chances of a high finish. Washington's eight points, in effect, replaced what the Red Raiders would have expected from Lasmane.
"She's just gained a lot of confidence," Kittley said. "I think when Ruta went down, we told that group they've got to step up. Man, she's just gained confidence — and she's running faster. That's the main thing: On the runway, she's been more aggressive."
After winning the Big 12 title on March 1, Washington said she drew inspiration from her boyfriend Terrence Jones, the three-time NCAA champion who finished his Tech career last year.
"He told me he had trouble his first year here, too, and he wasn't as confident," Washington said. "And then I'd seen how he progressed and how he became national record holder, NCAA record holder, how he won so many championships. I'm like, 'If he can do it, so can I.' He kind of tried to instill that hope in me."
The Tech women got four points from Shelby Frank's fifth-place finish in the weight throw and one-half point from Evelyn Lavielle's tie for eighth in the high jump.
In addition to the relay, the Tech men were led by Malachi Snow scoring in two events and Shaemar Uter achieving first-team all-America status by finishing sixth in the 400 meters for the second year in a row, running 46.20 seconds.
Snow ran 6.59 for seventh place in the 60 meters. Then Snow and Antoine Andrews ran 7.54 and 7.56, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles for third and sixth place, respectively, matching their pre-meet rankings exactly.
The Oregon women and the Southern California men won the team championships.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech track and field's Temitope Adeshina wins NCAA title
Continue reading...
