LEVELLAND — The South Plains College men's and women's track and field teams will begin the 2019 indoor season in Lubbock on Friday at the Red Raider Invitational at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center beginning at 10 a.m.
South Plains will be tested out of the blocks, competing against Div. I schools including Texas Tech, LSU, and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. With 24 schools competing on Friday, South Plains is just one of three junior colleges represented at the meet, alongside New Mexico Junior College and Barton Community College.
Per the Texas Tech athletics website, all of their indoor meets hosted at the Sports Performance Center will be streaming live on their website. A link to the Red Raider Invitational live steam can be found below. Live results will also be available via Flotrack, which can be accessed with the link at the bottom of the page. Entrance and tickets for spectators can be purchased at the north entrance of the track. See the parking map below for parking information.
The Texans enter the season as the defending indoor national champions after capturing the 2018 crown in Lubbock on March 3 at the NJCAA Indoor National Championships at the Texas Tech Sports Performance Center. South Plains will be looking to recreate the magic from a year ago, returning several key pieces from last season's championship squad including sophomore Asani Hylton who placed third in the heptathlon at the national meet, along with Holland Martin who earned national champion honors in the triple jump, setting a personal best with a mark of 52' 8.25".
"You get to this point in the season, and you're just ready to compete," South Plains head coach Erik Vance said. "You see the intensity in practice and folks who know what they trained for all fall, and we're ready to go. Holland Martin is back for us and he looks good. He's a guy who's a good leader and can carry some guys in the jumps. Asani Hylton broke our school record last year which was set by All-American Gabe Moore, and he's looking good and is ready to compete and do some big things this year."
Earning a second place overall finish at nationals last season, the Lady Texans look to be in contention for a national title in '19, returning several key pieces from last year's squad. Sophomore Ruth Usoro returns for the orange and blue after setting a school record and being crowned national champion in the triple jump with a mark of 42' 8.25". Patrice Moody also returns for South Plains, looking to improve on her fourth-place national finish last season in which she ran an 8.68 in the women's 60-meter hurdles.
"Ruth Usoro was an indoor national champion in the triple jump and is ready to do some great things for us," Vance said. "She jumped extremely well last year and has continued to train extremely hard throughout the fall and over the winter break, and she's going to be a force to be reckoned with. As far as our jumps crew and our distance runners go, I think we're ready to go out and do some big things."
Following Friday's meet, South Plains returns to the track on Feb. 1st in College Station at the Texas A&M Invitational, followed by a trip to Fayetteville for the Tyson Invitational on the campus of the University of Arkansas. For the full 2019 indoor schedule along with previews and recaps of each event, please visit spctexans.com.
Red Raider Invitational participants: Angelo State, Barton CC, Dallas Baptist, Eastern New Mexico, Hardin-Simmons, Houston, Incarnate Word, LSU, Lubbock Christian, Midwestern State, New Mexico Jr College, Prairie View A&M, South Plains, Stephen F Austin, Tarleton, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, Texas Tech, Texas Wesleyan, Univ of San Francisco, Univ of Southwest, UTSA, Wayland Baptist, West Texas A&M, Western Texas
Red Raider Invitational live stream: https://texastech.com/watch/?Live=4741&type=Live
Meet schedule: https://texastech.com/documents/2019/1/16/TF_Meet_Program_Red_Raider_Open_1_18_19.pdf
Live results: https://results.flotrack.org/?mid=1519
