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Kelley and Kigen win on day three of Texas Relays
April 4, 2008
AUSTIN, Texas - Candis Kelley and Festus Kigen both claimed event titles on Friday as TCU continued action at the 81st annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Earning NCAA regional qualifying marks on the women's side was the 4x100, Virgil Hodge (100), Brittany Blaylock (100) and Candis Kelley (Shot Put). On the men's side, Tommy Killen (Discus) and Joe Brown (Javelin) tossed NCAA regional qualifying marks. "I think the day went well. We weathered the storm today at the track. When we started out this morning it was extremely cold and wet. It was a long day and we just have to keep moving forward. These meets prepare us for conference, regionals and nationals," said head coach Darryl Anderson. Kelley, a College Station native, threw 49 feet, 8 ¼ inches on her last throw to win the event. The junior's toss currently ranks in the top 20 in the nation and is the top mark in the Mountain West Conference. In the women's long jump, JimAnne Hejny placed third overall in section B with a leap of 19 feet, 5 ¼ inches. "Candis Kelley had an exceptional day. Both her and JimAnne were outstanding today," said Anderson. In the men's discus section A, Killen crushed the NCAA regional qualifying mark by tossing a seasonal best of 186 feet, 8 inches to finish sixth overall in a highly competitive field. Brown, a senior from Overland Park, Kan., tossed the javelin 212 feet, 7 inches to finish in third-place in section B of the men's javelin. "Joe Brown showed a lot of consistency today. The big throw is going to come for him in the next couple of weeks. Tommy Killen had one of his best throws of his career today in a great discus field. He competed extremely well," said Anderson. Kigen placed first overall in the men's section A of the 1500 meters, crossing the finish line with a personal best time of 3:50.30. "Festus did really well today. This should set him up well for the next couple of weeks," said Anderson. In the women's 4x100, TCU blazed to a first-place finish in its heat to place seventh overall in preliminary action. The unit clocked an NCAA regional qualifying time of 45.34 to advance to Saturday's finals. Finally, the men's sprint medley closed out Friday night finishing sixth overall with a time of 3:22.67. "Our sprint medley group got off to a great start in a very competitive race. We led through the first three legs of the race, but our young half miler Sean Zurko got a little too excited and went out to fast. That happens though because he is competing," said Anderson. Hodge, a senior from St. Kitts, led all TCU runners in the women's 100 meters by crossing the finish line in first-place in her heat and fourth overall. Hodge ran a seasonal best and NCAA regional qualifying mark to qualify for Saturday's final. The senior clocked a time of 11.64. Blaylock also qualified for the finals by posting an NCAA regional qualifying time of 11.68. The Arlington native placed third in her heat and eighth overall in preliminary action. On the men's side, junior Otis McDaniel recorded a time of 10.57 seconds to finish third in his heat and ninth in preliminary action to qualify for the finals. Fellow junior Justyn Warner just missed qualifying for Saturday's final by clocking a 10.59 seconds at Mike A. Myers Stadium. "Overall, we had a pretty good day. Anytime you are in this meet you are competing against the best in the nation so we just have to get a goodnight sleep and comeback tomorrow and continue to improve," said Anderson.
TCU will continue competition on Saturday in Austin. Live results and video will be available on www.gofrogs.com.
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