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AUSTIN, Texas (4/3/08) The University of North Texas track and field team will go head-to-head with some of the best athletes in the world as the Mean Green competes at the 81st annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays beginning today.
The four-day event kicked off Wednesday with the start of both the decathlon and heptathlon events. Racquel Hudson will start things off for the Mean Green in the 400-meter hurdles scheduled for 4:30 p.m. today at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
"The Texas Relays is a prestigious event with a very exciting atmosphere," said head track and field coach Rick Watkins. "I think we’ll be just fine if we focus and do what I know we’re capable of doing."
Three Mean Green athletes will look to improve on their regional qualifying marks they set earlier in the year. Lauren Wiggins and Brandi Stanfield will be in action Friday for North Texas, while freshman high jumper Jermaine Jamison will compete Saturday at 11 a.m.
Wiggins, a junior from Carrollton, Texas, earned first place last weekend in the 100-meter hurdles at the ACU Triangular with a regional mark of 13.88. Stanfield secured her third regional outdoor appearance in as many years when she was the top collegiate finisher at the Horned Frog Invitational during the Mean Green’s outdoor opener. Stanfield’s leap of 40-11.00 is the second-best outdoor mark in the Sun Belt this season.
Jamison, a freshman from Killeen, Texas, cleared a personal best height of 6-10.75 on his third and final attempt at the Horned Frog Invite to tally a regional qualifying mark and his first ever collegiate first place finish.
Both the North Texas men and women will feature 4X400 and 4X200 relay teams at the Texas Relays. The women’s quartet of Shayla Hart, Chi Chi Echebelem, Chrystal Mitchell and Ciara Smith are looking to tally their second regional appearance in as many years in the 4X400,
The Mean Green men will also compete in the 4X100 relay scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m., as well as the distance medley relay on Saturday.
“We have the athletes that are capable of setting top marks, especially in the relay events,” Watkins said. “The high level of competition that we will be facing should help us run some of our fastest times of the season.”
