Opening day action for Aggies at USATF Championships
Jun 25, 2015 | Track and Field
EUGENE – Opening day of the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field had former A&M All-Americans Jessica Beard and Jeneba Tarmoh advancing out of the first round of the 400 and 100 meters, respectively, while Sam Humphreys finished fifth in the javelin final.
In the USATF Junior Championships, Aggie frosh Shaina Burns is currently in seventh place in the heptathlon with 3,017 points, 159 points behind the leading score. She led the field of 10 athletes after the third event, the shot put, when her mark of 43-10 ½ (13.37) scored 752 points. That topped the next best thrower by over seven feet, or 150 points.
Burns started the heptathlon with a time of 15.17 (1.9) in the 100 hurdles for 819 points, then high jumped 5-3 ¼ (1.61) for 747 points. Following the shot put, she finished the first day of the heptathlon with a 27.15 (3.5 wind) in the 200 meters for 699 points.
Humphreys threw the javelin 240-2 (73.20) to place fifth while A&M senior Devin Bogert placed 13th with a toss of 220-10 (67.32). Sean Furey won the U.S. title with a heave of 272-2 (83.08) to defeat Riley Dolezal (264-11|80.75), Sam Crouser (249-1|75.93) and Tim Glover (244-5|74.50).
Beard finished third in her heat of the 400 with a 51.62 as the top three finishers in each heat automatically advanced to the semifinal. Placing ahead of Beard were Quanera Hayes (51.31) and Natasha Hastings (51.44). Leading the qualifying round was Francena McCorory in 51.25.
Tarmoh clocked a barely wind-aided time of 10.97 (2.1 wind) as runner-up in her heat of the 100 behind a 10.92 by English Gardner. A pair of windy 10.87 (4.5 wind) times by Carmelita Jeter (10.866) and Jasmine Todd (10.869) led the opening round.
Aggie sophomore Aaliyah Brown posted a time of 11.23 (1.8 wind) to place fifth in the final heat of the 100 and she didn't advance on time. In the men's 100 Ameer Webb placed sixth in his heat with a time of 10.15. Webb will compete in the 200 meters on Saturday.
A time of 51.01 to place fifth in the final heat of the 400 hurdles left A&M senior Gregory Coleman just missing the final time qualifier. Boise State's Jordin Andrade finished ahead of Coleman in 50.96 to nab the final position advancing to the semifinal.
Melvin Echard placed 13th in the long jump final with a wind-aided best of 25-9 ½ (7.86).
Friday's action has Burns continuing the heptathlon with a noon (CT) start while another USATF Junior competitor includes Aggie sophomore Alison Ondrusek in the hammer at 1:05 p.m.
A&M sophomore Shamier Little runs in the first round of the 400 hurdles at 8:50 p.m. while Aggie volunteer assistant coach Ariana Ince competes in the javelin at 9 p.m. Semifinal rounds will be contested in the 100 and 400 meters for Tarmoh and Beard while the 100 final is also held on Friday evening.
Players Mentioned
