No. 3 Aggie men take first day scoring lead at Razorback Invitational

Photo by: Errol Anderson

Jan 29, 2016 | Track and Field

FAYETTEVILLE – Jacob Wooten was the latest Aggie to attempt 18 feet, 1 inch in an effort to eclipse the school record in the pole vault after winning the Razorback Invitational with a 17-7 clearance. He led a 27-point output by four Texas A&M vaulters as they placed first, tied for second and finished sixth in the event.

Texas A&M men, ranked No. 3 nationally, hold a lead in team scoring after the first day of the Razorback Invitational with 78.5 points over host Arkansas (55), Oregon (33), LSU (22), UCLA (18.5), and Florida (13). The Aggie women, nationally-ranked No. 20, are currently in seventh place with 15.5 points. Arkansas leads the women's field with 86.5 points over Georgia (69), Florida (23), Oregon (22), Oklahoma (20) and Iowa State (16).

"Our kids competed well today and this is where we are in the season," noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "It's typical of this time of the year. It's okay, and we just need to keep getting better."

On Saturday, four hours of coverage from the Razorback Invitational will be available via the SEC Network starting at 12:30 p.m.

Wooten was the lone Aggie to make 17-7 and he cleared on his first attempt. He then passed the next height of 17-11 to attempt 18-1, which would better the A&M school record of 18-0 ½ that is currently shared by Greg West (1990), Richard McDonald (1998) and Chase Wolfle (2015).

Wolfle cleared a season best of 17-1 as he tied Audie Wyatt for second place. Carl Johansson was the fourth Aggie in the field and he placed sixth with a clearance of 16-7 ¼.

Devin Jenkins set a career best of 20.77 seconds to win the 200m over a 20.78 from Kenzo Cotton of Arkansas. Cotton produced his time in the first section while Jenkins followed with the faster time in the second section.

"I'm just glad to be healthy," stated Jenkins. "In recent years I haven't been healthy throughout the whole season. This year I really put it in my mind that there is stuff I need to do outside of track in order to be successful on the track."

A&M's Edward Davis won another 200m section in 21.37 to place fifth overall in the field of 40 sprinters which took 12 sections to complete. A total of 10 sprinters, four of them Gators, were disqualified for lane violations.

The time by Jenkins moves him to No. 9 on the Aggie all-time list and he is currently tied for third on the 2016 world indoor list. Jenkins moves ahead of Brandon Evans (20.78), Gerald Phiri (20.80), Bralon Taplin (20.80) and Michael Bryan (20.87) on the A&M all-time list.

"The track felt good, even though lane six is a little bit high since the track is raised," noted Jenkins. "I felt good coming down the bank of the track on both curves. I really felt the overdrive and knew I could get the best from it."

Austin Wells enjoyed another wire-to-wire victory as he set a career indoor best of 14:19.88 to claim the 5,000-meter race with teammate Christian Farris runner-up in a PR of 14:43.25. Wells improved upon his previous best of 14:24.25 he set during the 2015 SEC Championships, and moved to No. 6 on the A&M all-time list with the No. 9 performance.

Wells clicked off 1,000m splits of 2:48.60, 2:49.77 [5:38.37], 2:52.64 [8:31.01], 2:54.43 [11:25.44], 2:54.44 as he cruised to his winning time with a 32.60 on the final lap. Last week a wire-to-wire victory in the 3,000m at the A&M Quadrangular had Wells setting a career best of 8:09.90, which is No. 8 on the Aggie all-time list.

Sam McSwain equaled his career indoor best of 7-0 ¼ in the high jump to place second. Ken LeGassey of Arkansas also cleared 7-0 ¼ and claimed the win based on fewer misses. McSwain needed three attempts at 7-0 ¼ while LeGassey made it on his first attempt.

The Aggie distance medley relays both produced the No. 4 times on the A&M all-time lists and both were aided by superb third-legs over the 800m portion.

In the men's race, A&M placed third with a time of 9:35.62 to finish behind Oregon (9:30.95) and Oklahoma State (9:35.35) and ahead of Arkansas (9:36.77), Oklahoma (9:37.28) and UCLA (9:38.77).

Following an opening 1,200m leg of 2:56.07 by Donavan Brazier, Robert Grant fell flat on the track after the exchange of the baton in a collision with another team. Grant still managed a 50.38 split over 400m. Hector Hernandez then made up the ground to the leaders with a 1:47.59 carry over 800m, which was the fastest split among the nine teams in the race.

Cameron Villarreal covered the anchor leg of 1,600m in 4:01.59 to place third. Oregon's Edward Cheserek split 3:55.70 on the anchor for the win while Oklahoma State's Chad Noelle, the 2015 NCAA 1500 champ, split 4:02.03 as runner-up.

"For Donavan to run that fast on the first leg is very good," said Henry. "Plus he learned some race lessons tonight. Then we got knocked down and Robert was able to jump up and do a good job with his leg. Hector ran a great 800 in splitting 1:47 and it was a tremendous effort. Cameron closed strong with a 4:01 anchor."

The Aggie women placed seventh in 11:34.30 with a foursome of Katie Willard (3:30.71), Jarra Owens (54.12), Jazmine Fray (2:05.34) and Katie Watson (5:04.13). Fray's was the fastest 800m split in the competition and bettered A&M's school record of 2:07.27 set in the open 800m in 2002. The next best 800m split was 2:06.35 by Oregon's Raevyn Rogers.

Will Williams finished fourth in the men's long jump with a mark of 25-0 ¾ (7.64) as he finished behind Jarrion Lawson of Arkansas (26-9 ¾), KeAndre Bates of Florida (26-0 ¼), and Florida State's Stefan Brits (25-4). Aggies also placed eighth and 10^th with Lathone Collie (24-3) and Latario Collie (24-1), who both return for the triple jump on Saturday.

Aaliyah Brown matched her indoor career best in the 200m with a 23.42 section win that placed her fifth overall. Florida's Kyra Jefferson posted a world-leading time of 22.72 for the victory over a 23.14 by Oklahoma's Daye Shon Roberson.

Diamond Spaulding was just a tick away from her PR in the 200 as she clocked 23.59 to place eighth. Also competing in the event were Briyahna Desrosiers (23.85, 10^th), Brenessa Thompson (24.04, 16^th) and Shamier Little (24.05, 17^th).

Annie Kunz placed fifth in the high jump at 5-7 ¼. Other scorers for the Aggie women includes Carissa van Beek (61-2) and Alison Ondrusek (60-9 ¼) in the weight throw as they placed seventh and eighth. Sara Kathryn Stevens tied for eighth in the pole vault at 12-8 ¾, the same height teammate Emily Gunderson made in placing 10^th.