Story by
Texas Tech sprinters dominate in inaugural Stan Scott Memorial track meet
- Story by
- Texas Tech sprinters dominate in inaugural Stan Scott Memorial track meet
For as much talent as the Texas Tech track and field team possesses in the men's sprints group, it can sometimes seem to be Terrence Jones 's world with the others running in the NCAA record holder's long shadow.
Others grabbed the spotlight on Saturday, though.
Advertisement
Don'Dre Swint covered 60 meters in 6.52 seconds to lead a Red Raiders 1-2-3-5 finish in the season-opening Stan Scott Memorial at the Sports Performance Center. Swint and Shawn Brown, who ran 6.53, put themselves in good position to make the NCAA championships March 8-9 in Boston, and Jalen Drayden ran 6.57 for third.
"The men's 60 was pretty special," Tech coach Wes Kittley said.
Brown and Drayden are newcomers from Butler (Kan.) Community College and Arizona State, respectively. Jones tied the NCAA record two years ago with a 6.45 and is the defending champion from last year's NCAA indoor. The 6-foot-4 senior ran 6.61 Saturday.
"I feel like our biggest competition is ourselves," said Swint, a second-year transfer from Florida State . "When we come out here and compete against other teams, we feel like it's time to have fun. At practice is where we get all into our heads.
Advertisement
"But when we come out here (for meets) and get to show everybody in the nation our talent, it's actually fun."
More: Texas Tech track and field coach Wes Kittley gets 7-year, $3.8 million contract
More: Texas Tech's Wes Kittley, chosen for track coaches' Hall of Fame, says he'll coach past 70
Last year, the Red Raiders had four of the top 21 and six of the top 38 in Division I in the 60. From that group, Courtney Lindsey, Nylo Clarke and Adam Clayton completed their eligibility. Jones and Swint return, as does Caleb Dean, who suffered a broken foot at last year's NCAA outdoor and didn't compete Saturday.
Advertisement
Tech finished fifth as a team at last year's NCAA indoor championships.
"I feel like our potential is, we can win nationals, mainly off of sprints if you ask me," said Swint, a 5-foot-6, 157-pound senior.
Texas Tech's Don'Dre Swint competes in the 60 meters during the Stan Scott Memorial indoor track and field meet, Saturday, Jan.13, 2024, at Sports Performance Center.
Tech newcomer Alyssa Colbert took the women's 60 in 7.19. Colbert transferred to Tech from Northern Arizona, where she won six Big Sky Conference sprint titles: two each in the 60, the 100 and the 200.
"I had a great experience at NAU. I still love it, and my best friends are still there," she said. "It was just time for me to kind of elevate in terms of competition and compete with the best and train with the best, and I found that here at Tech.
Advertisement
"As soon as I came here, it was like home. I knew it was the school for me. They've shown me in fall practice that this is a team that's going to make some things happen."
Colbert, from Gilbert, Arizona, came in with a personal record in the 60 meters of 7.24. She ran 7.21 in the first round and then reset her PR again in the final.
"That's obviously very exciting," she said, "and makes things even more exciting for the future."
Texas Tech's Charlie Bartholomew, shown at a meet earlier this year, ran on the Red Raiders' 1,600-meter relay that set a school record two weeks ago at the NCAA West regional in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Carl Hicks, Bartholomew, Josh Bour and Shaemar Uter ran a time of 3 minutes, 1.58 seconds and qualified for this week's NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Another newcomer from whom Tech is expecting big things is Charlie Bartholomew, who holds Oklahoma State's school record in the 400 meters outdoor and ran on the Cowboys' NCAA champion distance medley relay last year indoor.
Advertisement
Bartholomew debuted Saturday by winning the 600-yard run in 1 minute, 9.64 seconds, and knocking out the opening leg on the Red Raiders' winning 1,600-meter relay. Bartholomew, Drayden, Arizona transfer Carl Hicks and sophomore returnee Shaemar Uter clocked 3:07.93.
"First meet, I feel like it went really good," Bartholomew said. "I wasn't trying to chase a time. I was going out there just to perform. My first time with a new school, I wasn't trying to do too much. I was just trying to test the waters. I feel like I did what I had to do."
Bartholomew, the 2021 Class 6A state champion in the 400 with McKinney Boyd, spent two years in Stillwater.
"I left Oklahoma State because I just tried to elevate myself," he said. "I just saw a lot more competition here at Texas Tech. The guys at Oklahoma State are still my guys. They're all doing amazing right now, but I just felt like I wanted to be around people that have been to nationals in individual events. I just want to be a part of that for one time."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech sprinters dominate in inaugural Stan Scott Memorial track meet
