The TCU Men’s Track team performed admirably through the outdoor season. It was capped off with an ex-TCU standout earning a trip to the Olympics.
The TCU Horned Frogs Men’s Outdoor Track season officially began in mid-March with the TCU Alumni and High School Invitational. Unfortunately, the start of the season didn’t go as planned. The first part of the event was canceled due to inclement weather, but TCU still saw success in the shortened invitational.
The Horned Frogs emerged victorious in four of the events at the Lowden Track and Field complex. Long-distance runner Graydon Morris ran the fifth-fast 5k in school history. Morris set the track ablaze with a time of 14:11.50. Stone Burke, a steeplechase runner, won the event with a time of 9:26.22. The Horned Frogs continued to dominate the long-distance events as TCU placed first and third in the 1500m. Similarly to the near-mile event, the Frogs placed first and third in the 400m. The 100m was the only track event the Horned Frogs failed to place first. However, Jais Smith and Gregory Sholars took second and third with personal best times.
Following the inaugural event of the outdoor season, the TCU Men’s Outdoor Track headed south to compete in the Texas A&M Invitational. Morris once again showed out, this time running a 3:46.62 in the 1500m—the sixth-fastest time in school history. He also competed in the 5k, placing first with a time of 14:14.26. The Horned Frogs performed quite well in the 800m. Ryan Martin and Lloyd Frilot placed first and second, with times a sixth of a second apart at 1:49.04 and 1:49.64, respectively. On the field, TCU’s Reese Pokluda placed first in the pole vault—he recorded a height of 5.05m.
Staying in the state of Texas, the Horned Frogs track team next competed in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays. Benjamin Kirbo recorded a 5.15m jump—his personal best in outdoor pole vault. Frilot placed third in the 800m, while Ryan Martin finished right behind, in fourth. Another weekend, another strong finish in the 1500m for the Horned Frogs. This time, Johnson Lagat came in at third with a time of 3:51.90. As for TCU’s relay medley teams, both squads finished second. The distance medley team recorded the third-fastest time in school history while the sprint medley relay team posted the fifth-best mark in program history. The men’s 4×400 team finished ninth, recording a time of 3:09.75 on the final day of the event.
Two weeks later, in a distance-only event in Long Beach, Frilot, Martin, and Gianni Henry each placed in the top six in the men’s 800m. The Horned Frogs also saw a top-five finish in the triple jump. Newcomer Damilare Olukosi placed fourth with a leap of 15.49m. Basketball player Jase Posey won the high jump in his debut appearance at the Bryan Clay Invitational. Posey recorded a jump of 2.15m—TCU’s fourth-best mark in school history. Morris was the big winner of the event, recording a TCU record time in the 1500m of 13:43.46.
The Horned Frogs returned to their home state of Texas to compete in the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco on April 19. A usual suspect, Morris competed in the 1500m and came away victorious with a winning time of 3:50.18. Aside from Morris’s success, Kirbo dominated the pole vault—recording a TCU record jump of 5.40m. His record-breaking jump led the way on day one of the event. On day two, the men’s 4×100 team and Frilot, running the 800m, both earned first-place finishes.
Less than a week later, the Horned Frogs traveled to the northeast for the first time in the outdoor season. TCU competed in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. The men’s 4×400 team placed first for the first time in the Penn Relays, notching a time of 3:18.71. Although the Horned Frogs’ chances of winning the event were bleak, Martin bolted ahead as he took first place as the anchor.
After the relays, the Horned Frogs returned to Waco for the Big 12 Outdoor Championships. Decathalon participant Joel MacFarlane highlighted day one of the event. His excellent throw in the shot put and personal-best time of 47.96 in the 400m ended in a first-place finish. On day two, MacFarlane saw personal bests in the 100m hurdles and the pole vault as he earned a bronze medal in the event. The men’s team didn’t perform nearly as well as the women’s squad on day three of the championships. The men’s 4×100 was the most successful, placing sixth in the race with a time of 39.91.
A week and a half later, the NCAA West Preliminaries began in Arkansas. Three Horned Frogs, Jayden Douglas, Kashie Crockett, and David Seete all advanced in the Quarterfinals. Douglas and Seete in the 400m and Crockett in the 200m. Crockett’s strong performance continued into the Quarterfinals where he finished 11th to land a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Despite strong seasons, neither Douglas nor Steete advanced to the championships. Back to the field, Posey competed in the Quarterfinals and tied for 14th with a jump of 2.14m in the high jump.
To begin the championships, MacFarlane and Crockett competed in the decathlon and the 200m, respectively. As the first day came to a close, MacFarlane finished 20th following the 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump, and 400m. Crockett placed 23rd with a time of 20.98 in the 200m. MacFarlane was the lone men’s track star to compete on day two of the event. In his second appearance at the Eugene, Oregon-based championships, he ended the season with a 15th-place finish.
The Horned Frogs Men’s track team sent one former athlete to the Olympic trials—Ronnie Baker. A member of the TCU track squad from 2013-2016, Baker won second in the 100m finals at the Olympic trials also held in Eugene. Now 27 years old, this year will mark the ex-TCU track star’s first Olympic appearance in Paris later this Summer.