Going all out: Tech's Callie Jones wraps up busy day with 2nd-place finish in Big 12 meet
Callie Jones' young son, Ezra, was an all-star selection in youth baseball this year, and when she shares that fact, the little 5-year-old promptly demonstrates with a big two-handed swing of an imaginary bat.
Ezra's mom is pretty athletic in her own right.
Jones got the Texas Tech women on the board in Friday's first day of the Big 12 outdoor track and field championships with a second-place finish in the javelin. Jones, a combined-events specialist from Mobile, Alabama, did the javelin competition after completing the first four events in the heptathlon.
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Her silver-medal throw, on her next-to-last attempt, went 162 feet, 9 inches. Equally encouraging, her three throws before that went 159-4, 155-8 and 156-10.
"I felt good, considering coming from the multi (events), running the 200 (meters), doing four events before," she said. "This is my best (javelin) series in college, so I'm kind of excited for the next meet to see what I can do at regionals."
Texas' Rhiley Fritz won the javelin with a throw of 164-9. Tech's Maria Sotomayor gave the Red Raiders fourth-place points with a mark of 146-3.
Tech's Fuller Track Complex and throws field is the site of the three-day meet that runs through Sunday night.
In the heptathlon, Jones ran the 100-meter hurdles in 13.75 seconds, high jumped 5-9 1/4, put the shot 36-3 1/2 and ran the 200 meters in 25.32.
Those performances were good for 3,399 points, putting her in fourth place with three events to go on Saturday.
It added up to a lot of time in 91- to 92-degree heat Friday afternoon.
"It is challenging, because we've been out in the sun all day," Jones said, "and I came to college for javelin, so being able to transition and do both the multis and javelin has been a little challenging. But I've been able to adjust and get in shape and hydrate, eat, nutrition, everything, so ... ."
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Jones has so much on her plate that she'll miss one big event on Saturday: her graduation. The Texas Tech commencement doesn't fit into Jones' competition schedule, so at her mother's request, she plans to take part in Tech's next graduation ceremony in August.
However, she still had a sizable contingent of family and friends on hand Friday to watch, including her young son.
"It's actually really great," Jones said, "because he's young, but he's really understanding that I'm in college, getting my degree and working hard. So I'm trying to set a good example for him and provide the best life I can once I'm done and graduated."
The Tech men also scored big in the javelin. A second-place by Markim Felix and a third from Garrett Wade were good for 18 points. Felix's mark was 232-0, Wade's 218-2.
Tech thrower Gabriel Oladipo got fifth in the hammer throw with a school-record mark of 211-0. Through five of the 10 events in the decathlon, the Red Raiders' Gary Haasbroek and Denim Rogers are third and fourth with point totals of 4,172 and 4,071, respectively.
On Saturday, combined-events start times range from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. More field-events finals unfold between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., and running-event preliminaries are on a schedule from 5 p.m. to 9:10 p.m.
Coverage is streamed online on Big 12 Now, and live results can be found at Prime Time Timing's website, pttiming.com.
BIG 12 OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
at Fuller Track Complex
Friday's Results
WOMEN
Combined Events
Heptathlon (through four of seven events): 1. Kristine Blazevica, Texas, 3,563 points; 2. Urte Bacianskaite, Kansas State, 3,448; 3. Bailey Golden, Oklahoma State, 3,426; 4. Callie Jones, Texas Tech, 3,399; 6. Aria Tate, Texas Tech, 3,305.
Field Events
Hammer throw: 1. Lauren Jones, Oklahoma, 222 feet, 1 inch; 2. Emma Robbins, Kansas State, 217-1; 3. Antonella Creazzola, Iowa State, 205-1.
Javelin: 1. Rhiley Fritz, Texas, 164-9; 2. Callie Jones, Texas Tech, 162-9; 3. Sydney Juszczyk, TCU, 159-11; 4. Maria Sotomayor, Texas Tech, 146-3.
Running Events
10,000 meters: 1. Gabby Hentemann, Oklahoma State, 34 minutes, 18.58 seconds; 2. Dana Feyen, Iowa State, 34:19.80; 3. Winrose Chesang, Iowa State, 34:44.44.
MEN
Combined Events
Decathlon (through five of 10 events): 1. Tejaswin Shankar, Kansas State, 4,346 points; 2. Kristo Simulask, Oklahoma, 4,279; 3. Gary Haasbroek, Texas Tech, 4,172; 4. Denim Rogers, Texas Tech, 4,071.
Field Events
Hammer throw: 1. Bayley Campbell, Oklahoma, 230-2; 2. Kade McCall, Kansas State, 220-10; 3. Edward Jeans, Oklahoma, 219-9; 5. Gabriel Oladipo, Texas Tech, 211-0.
Javelin: 1. Chinecherem Prosper Nnamdi, Baylor, 255-10; 2. Markim Felix, Texas Tech, 232-0; 3. Garrett Wade, Texas Tech, 218-2.
Running Events
10,000 meters: 1. Haftu Knight, Texas, 29 minutes, 21.90 seconds; 2. Ryan Ford, Iowa State, 29:22.99; 3. Thomas Pollard, 29:28.11.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Callie Jones wraps up busy day with 2nd-place finish in Big 12 meet
