May marks the climax of the college track and field season, and that could be the case for Caleb Dean and Texas Tech University's men's relay teams.
Dean set school and facility records in the 400-meter hurdles on Friday, finishing first and second with teammate Oscar Edlund at the NCAA West Regional in Fayetteville, Ark. In the same quarterfinal, Dean ran 48.05 seconds, the ninth-fastest time in school history, while Edlund ran 48.70 seconds.
Dean broke the John McDonnell Field record of 48.47, set in 2009 by Washington State University's Jeshua Anderson.
Next up, they'll head to Hayward Field for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, from June 5-8.
Friday was the third day of four days of regional competition in Lexington and Fayetteville, Kentucky, where 48 athletes in individual events were narrowed down to 12 qualifiers for the national tournament.
Tech's men's team added nine runners to its national tournament-qualified list on Friday, bringing the total to 12, including both relay events.
The quartet of Carl Hicks, Charlie Bartholomew, Josh Bohr and Shamer Uter broke the school record in the 1,600 meter relay with a time of 3 minutes, 1.58 seconds. They took third place overall and finished behind Texas A&M and Texas State in the quarterfinals.
Conference Championships: Texas Tech men's track and field takes second place, women wins four events at Big 12 meet
Indoor National Championship: Terrence Jones, Caleb Dean lead Texas Tech track and field to NCAA Championship
The previous school record was set in 2005 when Johnny Jacob, Michael Mathews, Terry Beard and Andre Williams ran a time of 3:01.62. Mathews won three Olympic medals and Williams won one for his native Bahamas.
The Red Raiders' 400-meter relay, made up of Jaylen Drayden, Shawn Brown, Jack Marshall and Terrence Jones, placed fourth overall in 39.02 seconds. Jones, who missed most of the outdoor season with a hamstring injury, will at least compete in the NCAA Championships with a lighter load than the Red Raiders had hoped. The three-time NCAA champion sprinter failed to qualify for regionals in the 100 and 200 meters.
Tech advanced to second place in the triple jump against Eugene, with Stacey Brown Jr. taking first place with a time of 53 feet, 8.5 inches on his first attempt and Garrison Breeding taking 10th place with 51 feet, 10 inches.
Omamyoubwi Elhile won the high jump with a time of 7 feet 1 1/2 inches, while Utah won the 400 meters in 45.78 seconds.
They joined three Texas Tech freshmen who committed to Eugene on the first day: Trey Wilson, who placed third in the shot put (64 feet, 5.5 inches); Ernest Cheruiyot, who placed fifth in the 10,000 meters (28:35.03) and 10th in the pole vault (17 feet, 5.5 inches); and Sean Gribble, who placed 10th in the pole vault (17 feet, 5.5 inches). Wilson and Gribble's results were personal record times.
Saturday is the final day of competition for the women.
