Track & Field: TCU athletes compete at NCAA West Regional

TCU Outdoor Track and Field sent 18 individual competitors along with 4 relay teams to Sacramento, California for the NCAA West Regional as the Frogs looked to secure spots in the NCAA Championship meet.

On the first day of competition, the Frogs had two strong performances in the men’s 200 meter as Simbarashe Maketa and Donnie James had times of 21.02 and 21.24 respectively. Maketa finished 27th and barely missed an invitation to the quarterfinals and James finished a very solid 37th. Maketa and James were the two best Frog runners in the men’s 800 meter as they finished 36th and 37th with times of 46.71 and 46.73 respectively. David Seete was the third Frog competing in the men’s 400 and had a good time of 47.22.

TCU had their first quarter finals qualifiers on day 2 of competition. Gracie Morris finished second in her heat of the women’s 1500 meter race with a time of 4:18.59 to qualify for the quarter finals on Saturday. Morris would unfortunately be unable to compete in the quarterfinals and was robbed of a chance to earn a spot in her second straight NCAA Championship race in the women’s 1500 meter race due to a lower body injury suffered before the race.

Jasmin Muhammad-Graham earned a spot in the quarter finals in the 800 meter with a time of 2:06.66 and a 19th place finish. Iyana Gray qualified for 2 quarterfinal competitions as she had a great showing in the 100 meter with a 3rd place finish thanks to a time of 11.40 and a good performance in the 200 meter as she finished in 25th place thanks to a time of 23.44.

The field events on day 2 were filled with solid Horned Frog performances but there were no qualifiers for the quarterfinals. Emma Seetoo and Dreunna Washington finished 27th and 32nd respectively in long jump with leaps of 6.00 meters and 5.96 meters respectively. Sydney Juszczyk finished 30th in the javelin with a throw of 46.31 meters. Samarra Monrroy took 37th in the 400 meter with a solid time of 53.57.

The Frogs had their first competitors earn spots in the NCAA Championship meet on day 3 of competition. Theophilus Mudzengerere qualified for the NCAA Championship in the triple jump with a leap of 15.74 meters good for 8th place overall. Jaren Holmes had a good showing in the triple jump as well with a 16th place finish and a leap of 15.54 meters. Damilare Olukosi and Gavin Champ were the final two Frogs to compete in the triple jump and both had solid performances as they finished 20th and 37th with distances of 15.36 meters and 14.73 meters respectively.

Ethan Brown, Seete, James, and Maketa qualified for the NCAA Championship race in the 4x400 for the Frogs thanks to a great time of 3:05.20 and a 5th place finish overall. The men’s 4x100 team of Clinton Muunga, Seete, James, and Maketa put up a good time of 39.96 to place 24th overall.

The final day of competition saw many great performances from the Frogs but no more qualifiers for the NCAA Championship meet. Gray had good times in both the 100 meter and 200 meter as she finished 18th overall with a time of 11.31 and 21st overall with a time of 23.38 respectively. The TCU women’s 4x100 team of Rachel Hall, Monrroy, Washington, and Gray finished 21st thanks to a solid time of 44.48. Muhammad-Graham placed 19th overall in the 800 meter with an excellent time of 2:07.28.

Mudzengerere along with the men’s 4x400 team will next travel to Austin, Texas for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships that take place over a four-day stretch from June 7-10. Frog fans can tune in to the championship meet on ESPNU on Wednesday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. for the semifinals and then on ESPN2 on Friday, June 9 at 9 p.m. for the finals.