Track Seeks Fifth Set of NCAA Titles

Jun 08, 2015 | Track and Field

By: Texas A&M Media Relations

EUGENE – Texas A&M's journey to Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus this week has the No. 3 nationally ranked men and No. 4 nationally ranked women each seeking a fifth national team title as the NCAA Track & Field Championships get started on Wednesday.

A new format for the national meet, along with more TV exposure on the ESPN networks, greets the participants for the 94^th version of the men's meet and the 34^thyear for the women. The men will compete on Wednesday and Friday while the women will compete on Thursday and Saturday.

"It's going to be a different experience," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry, in his 11^th year with the Aggies. "The new format is a little bit television driven and I think that's a good thing. We have a lot more hours live on TV now and it's spread over four days. I think that's very important for our sport.

"So, there has to be a little bit more give on our side than take. I think the sport needs to give a little bit to put ourselves in position for people to better understand our sport."

The Aggie women have finished among the top four at the NCAA Championships in each of the past eight years while the A&M men have claimed top five finishes over the past seven years.

Texas A&M swept national championship team titles in 2009, 2010 and 2011, becoming the first school to accomplish that feat in track and field. The Aggie men added a fourth title in 2013 while the women claimed its fourth title last season.

NCAA Outdoor Championships – Recent Texas A&M Team Finish

Year           Men                  Women
2014          Third                 Champions
2013          Champions       Second
2012          Third                 Third
2011          Champions       Champions
2010          Champions       Champions
2009          Champions       Champions
2008          Fifth                  Third

The latest form charts by Track & Field News predict close team finishes for both the men and women. Oregon men are tabbed to repeat as team champions with 65 points over Florida (63), LSU (59) and Texas A&M (59). Last year the Ducks accumulated 88 points to win the team title over 70 for Florida and 49.5 by the Aggies in third.

On the women's side the magazine predicts seven teams within eight points of each other. They include USC (48), Oregon (47), Arkansas (46), Texas A&M (46), Florida (45), Texas (44) and Georgia (40). The Aggies claimed the 2014 NCAA championship with 75 points over 66 for runner-up Texas with Oregon scoring 59 for third place.

Among a crew of 30 athletes, Texas A&M returns the experience of six national champions in Deon Lendore (400m), Kamaria Brown (200m), Shamier Little (400 hurdles), Shelbi Vaughan (discus), the women's 4x100 relay and the men's 4x400 relay.

The Aggies also return two more relays and six athletes who scored in the national meet last season. That group includes the men's 4x100 (second), women's 4x400 (second), Maggie Malone (javelin, fourth), Shavez Hart (100m, fifth), Chase Wolfle (pole vault, tied for fifth), and Jennifer Madu (100m, sixth). Olivia Ekpone (200m, third/100m, fifth) didn't qualify in an individual event this season, but will be part of A&M's 4x400 while Dalton Rowan previously scored for the Aggies in the discus in 2012 and 2013.

"We advanced pretty well out of the preliminary rounds, so we put ourselves in a good position," said Henry, who has won eight national championships over the past six years with the A&M program. "We have a group of athletes who have been in this battle before, but it's a different battle than it was last time.

"It doesn't make any difference if you won last year or not, it's about what you do now. There are some things those athletes have learned. Now we'll see if they can apply them again this year. With the newcomers we have here, we'll see who stands out this week."

Over the past 35 years only three male sprinters have won consecutive NCAA titles in the 400 meters. The trio includes Jamaica's Bert Cameron of UTEP in 1980 (45.23) and 1981 (44.58), Auburn's Avard Moncur of the Bahamas in 2000 (44.72) and 2001 (44.84), as well as Grenada's Kirani James of Alabama in 2010 (45.05) and 2011 (45.10). Cameron also won the 1983 (44.62) title.

Lendore, a native of Trinidad & Tobago, seeks to achieve that milestone and score in the event for the fourth consecutive year. Lendore placed eighth as a freshman (45.63), finished second as a sophomore (44.94) and won last season (45.02). He enters the national championship meet with a collegiate leading time of 44.41, which currently ranks third best in the world for 2015 and is the second fastest time in his career behind a 44.36 set in 2014.

"I'm not trying to put too much pressure on myself, but I've also got to remember this is my last meet as a collegian," said Lendore, the 2014 Bowerman Award winner. "After all that I accomplished last year, coming into the meet this season there will be a little more pressure on me. But I'm trying to just have fun with this one, seeing it's my last one for Texas A&M.

"This is a nice place to finish off your collegiate season, because Oregon is one of the best tracks you can run on and have the crowd supporting you no matter what school you're from. They come out here to watch a quality track meet. I'll be happy to go out with a bang here and have the people here support you no matter what."

An undefeated Vaughan enters one of her favorite venues to throw the discus. She seeks to become just the fourth thrower to win consecutive NCAA titles and the first since UCLA's Selilala Sua won a set of four championships from 1997 to 2000.

"I've always loved throwing here and in Austin," stated Vaughan, who placed fourth in the 2012 Olympic Trials held in Eugene. "There's always a great crowd here with it being Track Town USA."

With a winning effort of 196-11 last season Vaughan became the first women's discus champion in Texas A&M history and she was just the second thrower from a school in the Lone Star state to claim victory since the start of the women's NCAA Championships in 1982. Texas Tech's D'Andra Carter, daughter of Michael Carter, won in 2009.

Improving her school record to 218-11 in winning a third SEC championship, Vaughan is the current U.S. leader and ranks ninth on the 2015 world list. She is currently fifth on the all-time collegiate list and just a foot away from breaking into the top 10 of the all-time U.S. list.

"I'm really excited about returning as defending champion, although a lot of people have been telling me there is a lot more pressure in trying to come back and defend your title," noted Vaughan. "I think I'm coming in a good position to be able to do that. I'm really excited and love to prove myself again.

"I'm thrilled about throwing on the last day, being able to be part of that and the excitement of how many points we need to win."

Another Aggie athlete enjoying an undefeated season is Shamier Little, who set a school record of 55.07 in winning the 2014 NCAA 400 hurdles title as a freshman to become just the second A&M winner in the event. She joined 1998 winner Rosa Jolivet, who established the school record of 55.24 that Little broke.

Little improved the A&M school record with a career best of 54.68 in the rain to win the SEC championship last month. It served as the 2015 world and U.S. leader for a week and is currently fifth in the world and second in the U.S.

"I want to PR and have one of my best races of the season in the 400 hurdles to finish off the collegiate portion of my season," said Little, who became the first freshman NCAA winner in the event since South Carolina's Lashinda Demus in 2002. "The meet format will be a lot different, and maybe a bit weird. However, it's going to be cool to sit and cheer on the guys without worrying about preparation for our events on the same day."

A recent career best clocking of 22.50 by Brown in the 200m at NCAA West preliminary rounds gives a solid indication she is ready for her NCAA title defense. Last season the Aggies finished first and third, with Brown and Ekpone, in the event to wrap up the team title before the 4x400 relay.

"I want to accomplish what I've been trying to do all year, which is set up my race right and just execute like I'm supposed to," noted Brown. "Then everything else will take care of itself. The crowd here is great and motivates us even more. This year will be a bit different, though, with the men and women competing on different days."

The women's half-lap race has been a treasure trove of points for the Aggies since Simone Facey became the first A&M female scorer in the event when she finished as runner-up in 2007. In that eight year span the Aggies have totaled 99 points, with a finalist in the event each season and multiple scorers in five. In 2010 A&M tallied 22 points in the 200 with a 1-2-5 result and scored 18 points from a 1-2 effort in 2008.

Brown, who finished as runner-up in 2013, joined Facey (2008) and Porscha Lucas (2009, 2010) as NCAA champions in the event and all three Aggie sprinters placed second prior to claiming their national title the following year.

Among a set of four sprinters the Aggies will feature three in the women's 100 (Aaliyah Brown, Jennifer Madu, Ashton Purvis) and a set of three in the 200 (K. Brown, A. Brown, Purvis) this week. All four make up the A&M 4x100 relay crew that set a collegiate leading time of 42.61, equal to the ninth fastest collegiate performance all-time, in winning the SEC title with a championship record.

Texas A&M seeks a third consecutive NCAA 4x100 title and the program's seventh championship since winning its initial title in 2007. Over the past nine seasons the sprint relay has produced impressive winning streaks in claiming seven consecutive Penn Relay victories and nine conference titles (six in the Big 12, three in the SEC).

"With the 4x100 we want to try to get the exchanges better and get through the zones smoother so we can lower our time from the 42.61 we ran to win the SEC," said Brown, who provides key legs in the 4x100 and 4x400 for the Aggies.

After a narrow setback to Texas, 43.70 to 43.72, during the Texas Relays at the end of March, A&M has rolled off five victories and had the leading time in the NCAA West meet.

Many challengers await the Aggies sprint relay this week as evident by the SEC meet where four teams broke 43 seconds. The previous SEC Championship record of 42.80 set by LSU in 2008 was only good for third place this year. Outside of the SEC other challengers in the 4x100 include USC, last year's runner-up, and Texas, who placed third a year ago.

Following A&M's winning time of 42.61 in the SEC final was Florida setting a school record of 42.72 to become the No. 3 school all-time with LSU third in 42.80 while Kentucky finished fourth in a school record of 42.85, making them the No. 6 school all-time.

The Aggie men's 4x400 will defend the 2014 NCAA title they won as they try to claim a fourth title since 2010. Last year's victory had the A&M crew just missing the collegiate record by 0.01 of a second with a 2:59.60 clocking.

This season the Aggies have run a best of 3:02.19, which is third best among collegians, to win the Texas Relays. Florida (3:01.60) and LSU (3:01.63) posted the top two times as they finished first and second in the SEC.

In the 4x100 the Aggie men are still seeking the programs first victory since 1997. A&M has produced three runner-up efforts since 2008. Last year a 38.84 earned second place behind Florida's winning time of 38.73 and just ahead of LSU's 38.85.

"In the 4x100 I'm hopeful we can go out there and get a NCAA win," said Lendore, who anchors both relays. "In the 4x400 I know it's going to be a hot race and hopefully we can repeat what we did last year."

Winning the 2015 SEC 4x100 title in 38.74 over LSU's 38.78 produced a collegiate leading time for the Aggies, lowering their previous leading time of 38.91 from claiming the Texas Relays in late March. During the NCAA West preliminary rounds, though, Arkansas posted the fastest time this season with a 38.66. The Razorbacks finished fifth in the SEC final with a 39.12.

In 2014, the women's 4x400 set a school record of 3:25.63 as they finished as runner-up in the NCAA meet for the second consecutive year. This season they have produced a best of 3:32.40 as the SEC runner-up.

"In the 4x400 I hope we can pull it together to produce a good time," noted Little. "I think we're on the right track to do so."