Wes Kittley's Texas Tech men eye another Big 12 track and field title

Three weeks ago when his team was competing in Manhattan, Kansas, Texas Tech track and field coach Wes Kittley found out his school had been chosen to host next year's Big 12 indoor championships.

There was no big announcement — no announcement at all, really. Erick Newman II, one of the Big 12's associate directors for competition, just told him.

"Somebody made that decision, but I don't remember it being told," Kittley said this week. "I didn't argue. I was, like, thrilled. We're ready to host anytime. We'll host it every year."

This weekend, Tech will host the conference indoor meet at the Sports Performance Center for the fourth time in six years. The Red Raiders are looking to win the men's title for the fourth time, having raised the team trophy in 2018, 2019 and 2023 and having finished second every year from 2020 through 2022.

Lately, Tech has been hosting the conference meet in something of a rotation with Iowa State, which has hosted the conference indoor a Big 12-most 12 times, including 10 times since 2007. However, Kittley said Iowa State has stopped bidding to host — indefinitely, from his understanding.

An Iowa State spokesperson said she believed it had to with the Lied Recreation Center's space limitations now that the Big 12 has added more teams.

The meet will be bigger than ever with soon-departing Texas and Oklahoma still in the Big 12 and new members Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati and Houston participating for the first time.

"Now that we have this facility, people love coming here," Kittley said. "Most of them (opposing teams) are wanting to come here, because it doesn't matter who you are, you're going to run fast here. It's not really our advantage. It's everybody's."

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Who are the Big 12 track and field title contenders?

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's weekly index has five Big 12 teams in the top 25, led by Texas Tech at No. 2, though the rankings often correlate more closely as a projection for a national meet more than a conference meet. Also ranked are No. 7 Texas, No. 17 Oklahoma State, No. 24 Iowa State and No. 25 Houston.

Texas Tech is the highest-ranked women's team at No. 5, followed by No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 10 Brigham Young, No. 24 Baylor and No. 25 Oklahoma.

Texas has won the Big 12 women's team title eight of the past 10 years, though Oklahoma State bumped UT to second last year.

Texas Tech men: How to defend a Big 12 title

Last year, the Red Raiders built a nearly insurmountable lead early on the final day, in a short time frame scoring 19 points in the triple jump, 32 points in the 60-meter hurdles and 32 more in the 60 meters. They did it by taking three of the top seven places in the triple jump, five of the top six in the 60 hurdles and six of the eight in the 60.

Several of those responsible are back. Based on conference regular-season performances, Tech has five of the top six in the 60 meters, and three of the top six in both the 60-meter hurdles and the triple jump.

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Tech's Terrence Jones and Don'Dre Swint are 1-2 in NCAA Division I in the 60 meters, and Caleb Dean leads Division I in the 60-meter hurdles. Shawn Brown and Jalen Drayden also are in the top 10 in Division I in the 60 meters, and Antoine Andrews is seventh in the 60-meter hurdles.

Asked if those were key events to repeat, Kittley said, "No doubt, but they have been steady all year long, so I fully expect them to be steady again. I think we've got to get some (points) from our middle distance. I think we've got to get a little more from our jumps, and I think we're ready to do that now."

Texas Tech women: Strength at the top

The Texas Tech women might be better equipped to make noise at next month's NCAA championships, where a few elite performers can yield a top-10 finish. In that vein, the Red Raiders have six athletes in the top 10 in Division I at the moment.

Leading that group are Rosemary Chukwuma, Alyssa Colbert and Success Umukoro, currently No. 3 and tied for No. 5 in Division I in the 60 meters; Ruta Lasmane and Anne-Suzanna Fosther-Katta, who are No. 1 and No. 9 in the triple jump; and Temitope Adeshina, who is No. 2 in the high jump.

Chukwuma, Lasmane and Adeshina each have the top time or mark in the Big 12 in their events, and Colbert, Umukoro and Fosther-Katta all sit second or third in the Big 12.

Track and field

What: Big 12 indoor championships

When: Friday-Saturday

Where: Sports Performance Center

Online streaming: ESPN+

Live results: pttiming.com

Friday's schedule: Combined events, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Field events, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Running events, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturday's schedule: Combined events, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Field events, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Running events: 2 p.m. to 5:55 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech men aim to defend Big 12 track and field title