FROM STAFF REPORTS

NORMAN, Okla. – Eleven Texas Tech individuals and two relays did what they needed to do Friday and Saturday to keep their seasons alive. But the Tech contingent to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships will have a stunning omission.

Omo Osaghae, one of the nation’s top high hurdlers throughout the school year, was disqualified for a false start Saturday in the NCAA Midwest Regional meet. An athlete must be in the top 12 and-or finish in an event final to be eligible for an at-large berth to nationals. So ends – for this year, at least – Osaghae’s quest to nab the national title that narrowly eluded him during indoor season.

“Oh man, just heartbreaking,” Tech coach Wes Kittley said. “I felt bad for Omo. We actually had a really good meet, and then that happened. I just really feel bad for him, such a great kid.”

The NCAA outdoor meet is June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. Top-five finishers in regional competition qualify automatically, and the field is supplemented by a handful of at-large selections.

Osaghae, a junior from Monterey, ranked No. 2 in the nation and won the Big 12 title two weeks ago in Lubbock. But there’s no recourse for an athlete who makes the finals at a regional and doesn’t finish.

“It’s the dumbest rule in the world,” Kittley said. “If he had not made the finals – say he’d been 11th yesterday, but not in the top eight – he’d have gone to the (national) meet (as an at-large).”

Kittley said the rule is designed to keep highly ranked athletes from sandbagging or purposely false-starting out of the finals.

“It’s a good rule if you’re trying to cheat it, but it’s not a good rule if you made a mistake and you’re one of the best hurdlers in the country,” he said.

Otherwise, Saturday brought mostly good news for the Red Raiders. The Tech women piled up 61 points to take second in the regional, and the Tech men placed third with 49 points.

Gil Roberts won the men’s 400 meters in 45.11 seconds, Gladys Kipsang won the women’s 1,500 meters (4:23.82), and the Tech men got second-place finishes from Gilbert Limo in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and their 1,600-meter relay team.

The latter, one of the best races of the day, saw Baylor edge Tech by two one-hundredths of a second. The Bears clocked 3 minutes, 2.72 seconds, and Tech got a 3:02.75 – third best in school history – from Brandon Washington, Rodney Mims, Lamont Adams and Roberts.

“It was a phenomenal race,” Kittley said. “Us, Baylor and Texas A&M almost had a photo finish. That’s by far our best time of the year, by over three seconds. We ran really, really well.”

Limo, hampered the last month by a knee injury he suffered at the Penn Relays, still finished in 8:51.68 to earn his second straight national trip.

Other Lady Raiders to qualify for the national outdoor were Sandra Iwunze in the 400-meter hurdles, Asia Diaz in the 800, Patience Knight in the shot put and the team of Diaz, Trudeann Clarke, Jonisha Boleware and Kelsey Lloyd, who ran a season best 3:36.13 for fifth in the 1,600-meter relay.

Iwunze and Diaz ran fourth in their events in 58.14 and 2:06.84, respectively.

Knight, who ranked No. 5 in the nation in the shot, finished a surprising fifth in the regional, but that’s good enough for her fourth straight national outdoor trip.

They join five Tech athletes who qualified Friday: shot putter Harrison Benjamin, long jumper Darrell Roddick, discus thrower D’Andra Carter, hammer thrower Ozie Okolie, distance runner Lillian Badaru in the 5,000 meters.