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Former Tech hurdler makes Team USA for World Championships
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- Former Tech hurdler makes Team USA for World Championships
SPOKANE, Wash. — The Texas Tech track and field program will be represented at the IAAF World Championships coming up in three weeks.
Alaysha Johnson finished second in the women's 60-meter hurdles on Sunday's final day of the U.S. indoor championships. Gabbi Cunningham won in 7.82 seconds, and Johnson ran 7.91, using a strong finish to edge Christina Clemons (7.92) for the second spot on Team USA.
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The World Championships are March 18-20 in Belgrade, Serbia.
Johnson was a seven-time all-American at Oregon who transferred to Texas Tech for her final college season. She still holds the Tech record for the women's 100-meter hurdles outdoors that she set in June 2019.
She was a three-time UIL Class 5A state champion at Spring and the 2013 Gatorade Texas track and field athlete of the year.
In the men's 800 meters Sunday, former Midland High star Bryce Hoppel won with a time of 1 minute, 45.30 seconds, and former Tech middle-distance runner Jonah Koech was seventh. Koech was in the field as a replacement after he just missed being a time qualifier out of Saturday's round.
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Koech and Vincent Crisp ran on Tech's 2019 NCAA championship team. Crisp finished third in his heat of the 800 on Saturday, but failed to advance with a time of 1:49.49.
In the women's high jump on Sunday, Jelena Rowe, formerly of South Plains College, cleared 6 feet, 3 1/4 inches for third place.
Trey Culver, the two-time NCAA champion from Coronado and Tech, finished fourth in the men's high jump on Saturday. Culver cleared 7 feet, 2 1/2 inches and then missed three times at 7-4 1/2.
JuVaughn Harrison won by going 7-5 3/4. Darryl Sullivan and Darius Carbin finished second and third, both topping out at 7-4 1/2. Harrison and Sullivan competed in the Tokyo Olympics last summer with Harrison finishing seventh.
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Softball
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. — Kendall Fritz threw a four-hit complete game and Texas Tech beat No. 18 Northwestern 4-2 on Sunday, wrapping up its five-game schedule at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Fritz (4-3) took a shutout into the seventh inning and finished with seven strikeouts and a walk.
Tech (5-10) staked her to a 4-0 lead. In the third, Peyton Blythe and Payton Jackson doubled, and Ellie Bailey's RBI single made it 2-0. Abbie Orrick singled home a run in the fourth, and Riley Ehlen hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
It was Tech's second win in the tournament.
On Saturday, Marissa Caballero hit a two-run single and Corissa Sweet also drove in two runs, leading Long Beach State over Tech 8-7.
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Tech led 4-2 in the fourth inning before Long Beach State (5-8) tied it on Caballbero's hit, took the lead on Jacquelyn Bickar's RBI single and got a run-scoring groundout from Sweet.
In the sixth, Sweet's RBI triple and Sinclair Lawhorn's run-scoring single made it 8-4.
Tech rallied in the seventh with an RBI double from Bailey and a two-run single by Carson Armijo. But Long Beach State reliever Addison Kostrencich entered with one out and one on and retired the two batters she faced for her first save.
Tech took its early lead with Blythe's three-run homer in the second and Jackson's RBI triple in the third.
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Men's tennis
Texas Tech rallied after losing the doubles point for four consecutive singles victories to beat No. 28 Tulsa 4-1 Sunday at the McLeod Tennis Center.
Dimitrios Azoidis, Reed Collier, Olle Wallin and Piotr Pawlak won on singles court Nos. 5, 2, 3 and 6 for Tech (8-5), which has won three in a row.
On Saturday, the Red Raiders blanked Denver 4-0. Tech won the best-of-three doubles point, then closed out the match with victories from Collier, Wallin and Franco Ribero at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 singles.
Women's tennis
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Ellie Schoppe, Jess Dawson and Julia Adams won the last three singles matches to finish as No. 24 Furman rallied past Texas Tech 4-2 Saturday in the third-place match of the Blue-Gray National Tennis Classic.
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Adams upset Tech's Margarita Skriabina 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 for the clincher at No. 1 singles.
No. 10 Oklahoma State beat Furman 4-0 in the semifinals, and No. 18 Wake Forest beat Tech 4-2. Oklahoma State beat Wake Forest 4-2 for the championship.
Tech dropped the doubles point to Furman, then went up 2-1 on straight-sets singles wins by Avelina Sayfetdinova on the No. 3 court and Metka Komac on the No. 5 court.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech roundup: Former Tech hurdler makes Team USA for World Championships
