New Tech thrower gears up with start of outdoor season

When the Texas Tech men's team recently won the Big 12 indoor track and field championship and finished fifth at the NCAA meet, Devin Roberson wasn't a contributor.

Roberson competes in the shot put, but the discus is his specialty and easily his best event. The discus isn't contested during the winter campaign, so to Roberson it feels as if the year really starts when the setting shifts to the outdoor season.

All that pent-up energy served him well this weekend.

Roberson, last year's Big 12 champion in the discus, won his event on Friday's first day of the Masked Rider Open. He threw the disc 194 feet even, a personal record by more than three feet.

"Obviously, I can't do my event indoor," Roberson said earlier in the week. "I think (the outdoor season starting) just feels good, because you train all fall season and you kind of watch indoor, and you see everybody have success here and it just gets me excited to finally contribute. It's what I know, so I'm excited about it."

Roberson is a 6-foot-4, 250-pound fourth-year junior from Jefferson City, Missouri. He spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Missouri, won the Big 12 discus title last year for TCU and transferred to Tech in the fall.

Roberson's second transfer was set in motion when TCU fired 17th-year coach Darryl Anderson on June 30, leaving Roberson uncertain about his future and that of TCU throws coach John Kenneson. Kenneson wound up being retained, but Anderson's dismissal came one day before the July 1 deadline for athletes to have their names in the NCAA transfer portal.

Roberson remembers having 11 hours to decide.

Once Roberson's name was in the portal, Tech's recruitment of him didn't take long either. Tech coach Wes Kittley called him on a Wednesday, and he hopped a plane to Lubbock Friday morning.

"There's a really good staff here, one of the best facilities," Roberson said. "When I was previously at (other) schools, at meets, you know when Tech walks in. They have that swagger about them. They have that confidence about them. If you get an opportunity to come here, it's kind of a no-brainer.

"Coach (Cliff) Felkins is a great throws coach. He's had plenty of successful throwers, and I think it was a pretty easy decision to be a part of this."

Kansas State, Iowa State and Kentucky wanted Roberson to give their programs consideration. Once he finished his Tech trip, though, Roberson said he didn't need to see anywhere else. In Lubbock, he hopes he can continue the upward trajectory his career began to take last spring.

In two seasons at Missouri, his personal best in the discus was 176-7, but he mostly threw in the 160s. That prompted his transfer from Mizzou to TCU.

"My first two years, I didn't really make any noise in college," he said. "I think that I was capable of so much more, so I think I just needed a change."

Last year at TCU, he threw farther than 180 feet in five meets, including a best of 190-11, his personal record until Friday. He won the conference title throwing 188-2 last year at the Big 12 championships in Lubbock.

"I still have a lot of respect for those guys (at TCU)," Roberson said. "They always had my best interests in mind. I think they kind of revived my career a little bit, so nothing but respect."

Having made noticeable improvement last year, Roberson hopes to find an even higher performance level this season. Consider that the 194-0 he threw Friday doesn't crack the top 10 in the Red Raiders' record book.

"You can see that each thrower that comes here is pretty good, pretty talented, and they're consistent," he said. "That was one of the things I was looking to better with myself, be more confident and having that training under your belt. When you pair hard work and consistency and talent, the ceiling gets raised, so that's what I was trying to do as well."

MASKED RIDER OPEN

Friday-Saturday

at Fuller Track Complex

Final Results

MEN

Field Events

Discus: 1. Devin Roberson, Texas Tech, 194 feet, 0 inches; 2. Brandon Lloyd, Barton County (Kan.) College, 184-2; 3. Jacob Mechler, Texas Tech, 181-8; 6. Bryce Spencer, Lubbock Christian University, 174-2.

Discus B section: 1. Konner Wood, Texas Tech, 169-6; 2. Donroy Brown, South Plains College, 151-4; 3. Ray Dixon, West Texas A&M, 150-2.

Shot put: 1. Luke Holcombe, West Texas A&M, 54-9 1/4; 2. Brandon Lloyd, Barton County (Kan.) CC, 54-5 1/4; 3. Donroy Brown, South Plains, 54-3 1/4.

Pole vault: 1. Zach Bradford, Texas Tech, 18-8 1/4; 2. Logan Fraley, Texas Tech, 17-7; 3. Jacobee Jones, Angelo State, 17-1; 4. Warren Miller, Texas Tech, 17-1; 5. Colton Naffziger, Texas Tech, 17-1.

Long jump: 1. Kelsey Daniel, New Mexico Junior College, 24-6 1/4 (wind: 0.2 meters per second); 2. Lokesh Sathyanathan, New Mexico, 24-2 1/2 (wind: 0.0 mps); 3. (tie) William Harris, Abilene Christian, 23-11 3/4 (wind: 1.1 mps); Kevin Washington, LCU, 23-11 3/4 (wind: 3.8 mps); 5. Elisha Teneus-Claude, South Plains, 23-9 (wind: 1.1 mps).

High jump: 1. Kudakwashe Chadenga, South Plains, 6-11 1/2; 2. Seniru Amarasinghe, West Texas A&M, 6-9 1/2; 3. Billy Mosnier, South Plains, 6-5 1/2; 4. Cole Omlin, Texas Tech, 6-3 1/2.

Javelin: 1. Christopher Young, Barton County (Kan.) CC, 218-2; 2. Garrett Wade, Texas Tech, 211-8; 3. Abraham Sargent, Oral Roberts, 209-2; 4. Thomas McCully, LCU, 163-3; 6. Garrett Dixon, LCU, 143-11.

Triple jump: 1. Loreno Luces, Wayland Baptist, 48-3 1/4 (wind: 2.8 meters per second); 2. Josh Body, Angelo State, 47-10 3/4 (wind: 0.9 mps); 3. Aidan Quinn, New Mexico, 47-7 3/4 (wind: 0.0 mps); 4. Kevin Washington, LCU, 46-10 1/4 (wind: 1.2 mps).

Hammer throw: 1. Bryce Spencer, LCU, 201-4; 2. Chris Samaniego, Texas Tech, 192-6; 3. Konner Wood, Texas Tech, 189-8; 5. Charles Gaither, South Plains, 171-1.

Running Events

400-meter relay: 1. South Plains (Keontae Gaines, Cody Grant, Noah Lawson, Gregory Prince), 39.59 seconds; 2. West Texas A&M, 39.60; 3. Texas Tech (Adam Clayton, Daniel Omah, Lance Broome, Nylo Clarke), 39.77; 5. LCU (Nathaniel Luna, Trael Robertson, Keitron Boyd, Ryan Gordon), 40.46.

1,500: 1. Evans Pololet, New Mexico JC, 3 minutes, 53.19 seconds; 2. Tomas Vega, New Mexico JC, 3:54.62; 3. German Vega, New Mexico JC, 3:55.99.

110 hurdles: 1. Taylor Rooney, Texas Tech, 13.85 (wind: negative 0.1 meters per second); 2. Dishaun Lamb, South Plains, 14.19 (wind: 1.4 mps); 3. Ashton Turner, UT Tyler, 14.24 (wind: negative 0.1 mps); 4. Kyle Lind, Texas Tech, 14.26 (wind: negative 0.1 mps); 5. Nelvin Appiah-Konadu, South Plains, 14.35 (wind: 2.9 mps); 6. Samuel Alves, Texas Tech, 14.39 (wind: negative 0.1 mps).

400: 1. Sean Bailey, unattached, 44.70; 2. Hossam Hatib, South Plains, 45.58; 3. Elijah Mosley, Barton County (Kan.) CC, 45.61.

100 (wind: 1.5 meters per second): 1. Mouhamadou Fall, unattached, 10.06; 2. Tapiwanashe Makarawu, New Mexico JC, 10.07; 3. James Dadzie, Western Texas, 10.10; 4. Sanjay Salmon, Western Texas, 10.38.

800: 1. Oussama El Bouchayby, Angelo State, 1:46.86; 2. Chevonne Hall, South Plains, 1:49.96; 3. Aron Tanui, South Plains, 1:50.29.

400 hurdles: 1. Oskar Edlund, Texas Tech, 50.38; 2. Shakeem Smith, unattached, 50.97; 3. Romel Plummer, Angelo State, 53.01.

200: 1. Mouhamadou Fall, unattached, 20.78; 2. Ryan Zeze, unattached, 20.91; 3. Aaron Charles, Barton County (Kan.) CC, 21.00.

5,000: 1. Erik Flores Burciaga, Oral Roberts, 14:55.77; 2. Alex Keter, New Mexico JC, 15:10.44; 3. Daniel Mendez, unattached (Texas Tech), 15:17.63; 4. Trey Leathers, unattached (Texas Tech), 15:24.10.

1,600 relay: 1. Texas Tech (Nylo Clarke, Lance Broome, Marco Vilca, Alfred Chawonza), 3:13.63; 2. Western Texas (James Dadzie, Reuel Campbell, Antonio Blair, DeSean Boyce), 3:16.48; 3. Angelo State, 3:17.94; 6. Texas Tech B (T.J. Gregg, Paul Sherrill, Kirk Zuber, Samuel Ashley), 3:24.86.

WOMEN

Field Events

Discus: 1. Malin Smith, Texas Tech, 180 feet, 4 inches; 2. Zoe Burleson, Abilene Christian University, 159-11; 3. Kimola Hines, South Plains College, 151-4; 5. McKenzie Davis, unattached (Texas Tech), 135-9.

Discus B section: 1. Avery Myrick, unattached, 141-5; 2. Abigail Jones, Lubbock Christian University, 126-8; 3. Hope Gray, West Texas A&M, 126-1; 4. Skyler Dempsey, LCU, 125-2.

Shot put: 1. Kelsie Murrell-Ross, Barton County (Kan.) College, 52-9 1/4; 2. Malin Smith, Texas Tech, 50-7 1/4; 3. Faith Mitchell, unattached (Texas Tech), 45-10 1/2; 5. Baylee Thompson, Texas Tech, 43-7 1/4; 6. Abigail Jones, LCU, 42-6.

Long jump: 1. Maricia Spence, Angelo State, 19-8 1/4 (wind: 2.4 meters per second); 2. Daniela Pesic, West Texas A&M, 19-5 1/4 (wind: 1.1 mps); 3. Mikyla Harkley, New Mexico, 19-4 (wind: 0.9 mps); 6. Paula Ann Chambers, South Plains, 19-0 1/2 (wind: 0.6 mps).

High jump: 1. Alexis Ivy, Texas Tech, 5-9 1/4; 2. Brooke Urban, West Texas A&M, 5-7 1/4; 3. Ja'Dasia Sims, Abilene Christian, 5-5 1/4; 6. Mara Hering, Texas Tech, 5-5 1/4.

Javelin: 1. Anisha Gibbons, New Mexico Junior College, 168-2; 2. Talena Murray, Angelo State, 144-10; 3. Keagin Brooks, New Mexico, 132-11.

Triple jump: 1. Brya Brewer, Texas Tech, 42-2 1/4 (wind: negative 1.6 meters per second); 2. Mikyla Harkley, New Mexico, 39-10 3/4 (wind: 1.7 mps); 3. Tamiah Washington, unattached (Texas Tech), 39-7 1/4 (wind: 2.8 mps);

Running Events

3,000-meter steeplechase: 1. Marigold Hunter, UT Tyler, 12 minutes, 53.82 seconds. No other finishers.

400 relay: 1. Texas Tech (Serena Clark, Kiah Dubarry-Gay, Adriane Nwonumah, Le-Taija Jackson), 44.62; 2. West Texas A&M, 44.86; 3. South Plains (Success Umukoro, Corlasia Scott, Brandy Hall, Breanna Clarke), 45.03.

1,500: 1. Adrena Mazzei, Oral Roberts, 4:33.58; 2. Betty Bajika, West Texas A&M, 4:34.74; 3. Letlhogonolo Magoro, New Mexico JC, 4:35.81; 4. Madelyn Merrell, LCU, 4:40.19.

100 hurdles (wind: negative 0.1 meters per second): 1. Naomi Krebs, Texas Tech, 13.70; 2. Ashyiria Savage, South Plains, 13.96; 3. Laiten Greeson, West Texas A&M, 13.99.

400: 1. Deshana Skeete, New Mexico JC, 52.76; 2. Fanny Peltier, unattached, 53.05; 3. Shadae Findley, Angelo State, 53.31; 5. Grace Obour, Western Texas, 53.87.

100 (wind: 1.6 meters per second): 1. Madoundou Kone, unattached, 11.32; 2. Serena Clark, Texas Tech, 11.40; 3. DeOndra Green, West Texas A&M, 11.54; 4. Success Umukoro, South Plains, 11.54; 6. Adriane Nwonumah, Texas Tech, 11.57.

800: 1. Rushana Dwyer, South Plains, 2:09.89; 2. Deborah Mazzei, Oral Roberts, 2:10.82; 3. Letlhogonolo Magoro, New Mexico JC, 2:11.07; 4. Lilliana Guerrero, South Plains, 2:13.11; 5. Emma Bock, Texas Tech, 2:15.27; 6. Jeniel Jones, South Plains, 2:18.48.

400 hurdles: 1. Sylvia Schulz, Texas Tech, 57.22; 2. Annamaria Leszczynska, New Mexico, 1:00.89; 3. Michaliliah Vassell, New Mexico JC, 1:01.31; 4. Magi Harris, Texas Tech, 1:01.39; 6. Simone Watkins, Texas Tech, 1:02.63.

200: 1. Madoundou Kone, unattached, 23.35; 2. Corrssia Perry, West Texas A&M, 23.76; 3. Tijuanique Morton, New Mexico JC, 24.06; 5. Le-Taija Jackson, Texas Tech, 24.14.

5,000: 1. Kylah Holland, Hardin-Simmons, 17:53.16; 2. Carolyne Kimaiyo, New Mexico JC, 18:19.15; 3. Emeline Mangham, Texas Tech, 18:36.34; 4. Sydney George, Texas Tech, 19:15.02.

1,600 relay: 1. Angelo State (Shiean Walters, Zykia McDaniel, Maricia Spence, Shadae Findley), 3:38.98; 2. Texas Tech (Nayanna Dubarry-Gay, Zariere Dumas, Kiah Dubarry-Gay, Le-Taija Jackson), 3:42.67; 3. Texas Tech B (Macklynn Land, Magi Harris, Lexye Price, Torrye Tyler), 3:58.99.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: New Tech discus thrower gears up with start of outdoor season