Horned Frogs Set for Arkansas Open
2/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Indoor Track
Meet Notes 
| Meet Schedule | Live Results
FORT WORTH, Texas - Representatives from the TCU men's and women's indoor track and field teams will compete at the Arkansas Open on Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.
Meet Schedule
The Horned Frogs will be featured in two events on Saturday, the men's 4x400 relay and the women's 400-meter dash. The 400 meters will start at approximately 2:20 p.m., while the 4x400 is slated to start at 3:10 p.m.
Follow The Frogs
To keep track of the meet live, follow the Horned Frogs on Twitter at @TCUTrackField. Coverage of the meet is available through the SEC Network + which can be accessed through the Watch ESPN app if you have a compatible cable service on Saturday only. Here is the link for Saturday - http://es.pn/1EYvZXu. Live results can also be accessed at this link - http://flashresults.com/2015_Meets/Indoor/02-21_ArkOpen/. A full recap from the invitational will be posted to GoFrogs.com following the end of competition each day.
The Field
A total of 13 universities will field competitors this weekend in Fayetteville. In the 4x400 relay, TCU's quartet of Kevin McClanahan, Raymond Bozmans, Sam Watts and Ronnie Baker will face off against squads from Arkansas, Texas Tech, Stephen F. Austin, Tulsa and Arkansas Baptist. Arkansas and Texas Tech's relay teams are ranked eighth and 14th, respectively, in NCAA competition this season. Tiffany Terry will face student-athletes from Tulsa, Missouri Southern, Missouri State and Arkansas Baptist in the 400 meters on Saturday.
Quotables from Director of Track & Field Darryl Anderson
On the men's 4x400 relay team
"We're going to send the men's mile relay team to run the Arkansas Open this weekend. The last two weeks we've had some technical difficulties in the race and we've gone from being ranked in the top five to being 12th in the country right now. We'd like to move up before we go to conference next week, so they're going to go run again this week. I feel like we're ready to run fast, we just have to put it on the track. It'll be a great opportunity to go up there and run against Arkansas and Texas Tech and the other teams competing. We're looking forward to it."
On the women's 400-meter dash
"Tiffany Terry will go run another 400 because she got sidetracked early in the season and missed two competition possibilities. We feel like before conference, we need to get one more race in to get her comfort level back. So, that's what we're doing this weekend and giving us another possibility as far as the NCAA championships are concerned."
On her progression throughout the indoor season
"I think last week at Arkansas she ran well on the distance medley relay. I thought in the open quarter she ran really well but her race management wasn't very good, which is a by-product of her being out of races for awhile. It's very apparent to me that she needs to do it one more time before we go to conference."
Last Time Out
At the Tyson Invitational, the women's distance medley relay squad shattered a 14-year-old record behind a time of 11:42.32. Bailey Sullivan (1200 meters), Tiffany Terry (400 meters), Anna Cozart (800 meters) and Arin Rice (1 Mile) set the standard and finished second overall in the race. The previous record of 11:50.15 was also set in Fayetteville on Feb. 10, 2001. In the men's 200 meters, Sam Watts put on another stellar performance, clocking in at 20.70 seconds. Cameron Echols-Luper recorded a mark of 7.72m (25-4), a personal-best, en route to a fourth-place finish in the men's long jump invitational. Ronnie Baker and Raymond Bozmans posted times of 6.68 and 6.73, respectively, in the men's 60-meter prelims and also competed in the semifinals as well. It's the same track that the Horned Frogs will compete on for the NCAA Indoor Championships from March 13-15.
National and World Rankings
On Jan. 31 in Albuquerque, Sam Watts charged down the track in the 200-meter dash to a world-leading time of 20.69 seconds. His time stood for six days and now ranks as the No. 4 time this season.
Ronnie Baker's 60 meters time of 6.56 seconds is ranked fifth in NCAA competition this season and is No. 17 in the world indoor lists for 2015. The top time in the world this season is held by former TCU standout Kim Collins at 6.47.
The men's 4x400 relay squad consisting Watts and Baker, as well as freshman Kevin McClanahan and junior Raymond Bozmans opened the season in College Station with a mark of 3:08.26. The time ranks as the 15th best in NCAA competition in 2015 and sits as No. 12 among qualifying times. Two relay teams that rank above the Horned Frogs will also compete in the event on Saturday.
Cameron Echols-Luper ranks 10th in the nation in the men's long jump after his performance last weekend at the Tyson Invitational. His top mark was a personal-best at 7.72m (25-4) and is second among Big 12 competitors. Four of the top 10 marks in the country this season came at the Tyson Invitational.
Changing Their Stars
Eighteen times this season, a Horned Frog has improved their top marks in competition. Over the two-day Tyson Invitational, seven seasonal-bests were achieved. The marks set on the women's side came from Brianna McGhee (60 hurdles), Iphona-Clemence Paiement (60 meters), Arin Rice and Bailey Sullivan (1 Mile). On the men's side, new standards were set by Cameron Echols-Luper (long jump), Antonio Franklin (60 meters) and Scotty Newton (triple jump).
Into the Rankings
The TCU men's squad is currently ranked at No. 21 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) computer rankings. It's the highest ranking for the Horned Frogs this season. TCU opened the season in the No. 25 slot, the highest preseason mark for the TCU men since 2011.
Etched In History
The first school record to fall in 2015 came in the women's distance medley relay at the Tyson Invitational. The team of Bailey Sullivan, Tiffany Terry, Anna Cozart and Arin Rice (three freshman and a sophomore), paced to a time of 11:42.32, almost eight seconds faster than the previous record set in 2001.
Big 12 Honors
On Feb. 4, junior Sam Watts received the Big 12 Male Co-Athletes of the Week award after his performance at the New Mexico Team Invitational in Albuquerque. At the meet, he recorded a time of 20.69 for a first-place finish in the 200 meters for the world's fastest mark in 2015 at that point in the season. He also put up a time of 6.84 in the 60 meters, which was a personal-record. It's the first time he's earned the accolade in his young career.
Returning All-Americans
Overall, TCU returns 11 student-athletes who garnered USTFCCCA All-America awards during the 2013-14 seasons.
Last year's indoor season produced six All-America honorees for the Horned Frogs, four of whom return to competition at TCU this year. The quartet came from the 4x400 relay team, which consisted of Ronnie Baker, Lavon Collins, Harvey McSwain and Sam Watts. The team earned Second Team accolades. In the outdoor campaign, Baker, Cameron Echols-Luper, Kolby Listenbee and Watts posted Second Team All-America honors in the 4x100 relay. Baker (100 meters), McSwain (4x400 relay) and Watts (4x400 relay) also received Honorable Mention nods in the outdoor season.
On the women's side, TCU returns three of the four members from the 4x100 relay team who earned Second Team honors in the outdoor season. The returning student-athletes are Judy Emeodi, Sabrina Moore and Iphona Paiement. Megan Smith also earned Second Team accolades in the discus event. The Horned Frogs also racked up Honorable Mention awards in the 4x400 relay behind Emeodi and Tiffany Terry.
Players Mentioned
