Red Raiders' Zahafi, Metivier win semifinal races at NCAA outdoor
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The Texas Tech men's track and field team will have a hard time cracking the top four places that earn a team trophy at the NCAA outdoor championships.
The Red Raiders could very well bring home a shiny medal or two, though, for individual performance.
Tech middle distance runner Moad Zahafi and hurdler Malik Metivier won their semifinal heats on Wednesday's first day of competition in Eugene, Oregon. The pair of international transfers, both using their last year of eligibility with the Red Raiders, advanced to the finals of their events on Friday at Hayward Field.
Zahafi, the world leader in the 800 meters this year, took his race in 1 minute, 46.66 seconds.
The Moroccan's time of 1:43.69 that he ran April 15 in Florida was third-fastest by a collegian all-time. On Wednesday, he didn't have to exert himself as much, needing only to finish in one of the top two spots to advance automatically to the final round.
The same applied for Metivier, but he nevertheless ran a personal record 48.89 in comfortably winning his heat of the 400-meter hurdles. Metivier, from Toronto, competed for Drake and Auburn before he transferred to Tech.
"Moad looked really good," Tech coach Wes Kittley said. "I thought he ran real easy and won his heat, did what he needed to do. That was our plan. He probably didn't go quite as fast as he thought he would have to."
Metivier's 48.89 tied Jamele Mason-Vegas for the third-fastest all-time by a Tech hurdler, and Mason-Vegas was a three-time first-team all-American at NCAA outdoor meets in 2010, 2011 and 2012.
"Malik looked great," Kittley said. "He won his heat, and the fastest heat was his heat. ... It's very competitive in that 400 hurdles. It's going to be a great final. But he looked just really good, so I was real proud of him."
Metivier set personal records in each of his past two meets. He ran 48.98 at the NCAA West Preliminary two weeks ago in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Kittley said he wasn't concerned about Metivier having enough for the final after setting a PR in the semifinal round.
"The way he finished, how strong he finished, it really was just a good smooth race for him and didn't deplete him," Kittley said. "The last two races he's run have been 48-highs, so I think that's what he is and what he'll need to do again on Friday."
The NCAA championships are staged over four days with the men competing Wednesday and Friday and the women going Thursday and Saturday.
Tech sprinter Courtney Lindsey missed by one spot advancing out of the semifinals in the 100 meters, then automatically advanced out of the semis of the 200 meters by finishing second in his heat. The junior from Rock Island, Illinois, ran 10.19 in the 100 and 20.32 in the 200.
It was a busy evening for Lindsey, who began it by running a leg on the Red Raiders' 400-meter relay team. Adam Clayton, Lindsey, Ashton O'Conner and Jacolby Shelton ran a 39.22, which was sixth in their heat and 16th overall out of 24 teams.
"Jacolby left a little bit early and then kind of panicked and slowed down," Kittley said. "You can't do that. At this meet, things have got to be perfect. It took 38 to make the finals. There's so many good teams, so that's a tough deal when you go 39-low and a 39 won't even make the NCAA final. We just had a little bobble there on the end. I thought the guys ran well."
At NCAA national meets, those advance to the finals and finish the competition in the top eight earn first-team all-America status and the next eight achieve second-team all-America recognition.
Tech thrower Markim Felix earned the latter, finishing ninth in the javelin on Wednesday with a mark of 237 feet, 2 inches.
Terrence Jones also will be second-team all-America honorees in the 100. Jones, running in a separate heat from Lindsey, clocked a 10.23, which was 12th overall out of 24 starters.
Former South Plains College NJCAA champion Khaleb McRae anchored Alabama's 1,600-meter relay team that set a school record in 3 minute, 0.42 seconds, the second-fastest time in the semifinals.
TEXAS TECH AND AREA ATHLETES' RESULTS/SCHEDULE
All times CDT
Event finals unless noted otherwise
Wednesday's Results
Note: Q-automatically advanced to next round based on place in heat.
Men
Field Events
Javelin: 9. Markim Felix, 237 feet, 2 inches.
Running Events
400-meter relay semifinals: 16. Texas Tech (Adam Clayton, Courtney Lindsey, Ashton O'Conner, Jacolby Shelton), 39.22 seconds.
100 semifinals: 9. Courtney Lindsey, 10.19 (wind: 1.2 meters per second); 12. Terrence Jones, 10.23 (wind: negative 0.6 mps).
400 semifinals: 13. Khaleb McRae, Alabama (formerly South Plains College), 45.82.
800 semifinals: 4. Q-Moad Zahafi, 1 minute, 46.66 seconds.
400 hurdles semifinals: 1. Q-Malik Metivier, 48.89; 17. Moitalel Mpoke, Texas A&M (formerly South Plains College), 51.58.
200 semifinals: 7. Q-Courtney Lindsey, 20.32 (wind: 0.4 mps).
Thursday's Events
WOMEN
Note: Each athlete is shown with ranking in NCAA Division I and season-best mark or time. An "x" means the athlete must qualify through the previous round. An "a" means mark or time is converted to account for performances at higher altitude.
Field Events
Pole vault: 13. Chloe Wall, 14 feet, 3 1/4 inches, 8 p.m.
Long jump: 1. Monae' Nichols, 22-10 1/2; 5. Ruth Usoro, 22-3; 19. Ruta Lasmane, 21-0 3/4, 9 p.m.
Running Events
100-meter hurdles semifinals: 2. Demisha Roswell, 12.48-a seconds, 8:32 p.m.
100 semifinals: 2. (tie) Rosemary Chukwuma, 10.82, 8:46 p.m.
200 semifinals: 6. (tie) Rosemary Chukwuma, 22.40-a, 9:44 p.m.
1,600 relay semifinals: 20. Texas Tech (Nayanna Dubarry-Gay, Aneesa Scott, Kiah Dubarry-Gay, Knowledge Omovoh), 3 minutes, 32.75 seconds, 10:48 p.m.
Friday's Events
MEN
Field Events
Note: Each athlete is shown with ranking in NCAA Division I and season-best mark or time.
High jump: 16. (tie) Caleb Wilborn, 7 feet, 1 3/4 inches, 7:30 p.m.
Triple jump: 8. Chris Welch, 54-0; 10. Jalen Seals, 53-7, 8:20 p.m.
Running Events
800: Moad Zahafi, 9:14 p.m.
400 hurdles: Malik Metivier, 9:27 p.m.
200: Courtney Lindsey, 9:37 p.m.
WOMEN
Note: Each athlete is shown with ranking in NCAA Division I and season-best mark or time. An "x" means the athlete must qualify through the previous round. An "a" means mark or time is converted to account for performances at higher altitude.
Combined Events
Heptathlon: 5. Callie Jones, 5,864 points, four events with start times from 3 p.m. to 9:43 p.m.
Saturday's Events
WOMEN
Field Events
High jump: 5. Sidney Sapp, 6 feet, 2 1/4 inches, 4 p.m.
Discus: 3. Seasons Usual, 195-2; 28. Malin Smith, 183-8, 4:05 p.m.
Triple jump: 4. Ruth Usoro, 45-9; 7. Ruta Lasmane, 45-3 1/2, 4:50 p.m.
Combined Events
Heptathlon: 5. Callie Jones, 5,864 points, remaining three events with start times from 12:30 p.m. to 6:13 p.m.
Running Events
100-meter hurdles: 2. x-Demisha Roswell, 12.48-a seconds, 5:12 p.m.
100: 2. (tie) x-Rosemary Chukwuma, 10.82, 5:22 p.m.
200: 6. (tie) x-Rosemary Chukwuma, 22.40-a, 6:07 p.m.
1,600 relay: 20. x-Texas Tech (Nayanna Dubarry-Gay, Aneesa Scott, Kiah Dubarry-Gay, Knowledge Omovoh), 3 minutes, 32.75 seconds, 6:51 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Track and field: Red Raiders' Moad Zahafi, Malik Metivier win semifinal races at NCAA championships
