Friday, January 27
Fayetteville, Ark.
All Day
Texas A&M
at
Razorback Invitational
Aggies first road trip this season takes them to Arkansas Razorback Invitational
Jan 25, 2017 | Track and Field
FAYETTEVILLE – Texas A&M's first road trip of the indoor track and field season sends the team to the Razorback Invitational, which will be held on Friday and Saturday with live coverage available on the SEC Network.
A majority of the SEC schools are competing in the scored meet along with Oklahoma State, USC and Wake Forest. Action starts at 11:30 a.m. on Friday with the pentathlon and heptathlon while a live stream on the SEC Network + (http://es.pn/2iXs8Fc) will begin at 6 p.m.
Saturday's live coverage via the SEC Network (http://es.pn/2iWnTYu) will be available from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Live results from the meet are available at Flash Results.
"This was a meet we thought was going to have every SEC school competing," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "It should be a great competition and it's a step in the right direction for us after a couple of good home meets.
"This is our first road trip and we will find out some things about our younger people. We'll be able to see their competitiveness in a different environment."
There are nine men's teams and nine women's teams ranked among the top 25 in the latest USTFCCCA national team computer rankings. The men's field includes No. 1 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 10 USC, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Oklahoma State and No. 19 South Carolina.
The women's field includes No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 USC, No. 5 Florida, No. 7 LSU, No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Mississippi, No. 17 Tennessee and No. 24 South Carolina.
Aggie senior Lindon Victor competes in his first multi-event competition since the Olympic decathlon this past summer. Last year in the indoor heptathlon Victor broke the Texas A&M school record with a score of 5,776 points, which he produced in placing third at the SEC Indoor Championships. Victor also finished 10th in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Outdoors, Victor added a pair of throwing events to his arsenal in the decathlon. He claimed SEC and NCAA decathlon titles, producing the fourth best score on the collegiate all-time list with his Aggie school record score of 8,446 points which also set a SEC Championship meet record.
"This will be a shot for Lindon to score well against good competition," said Henry. "Shaina Burns will compete in the pentathlon as well. We will also have a multi-event at our next home meet the following weekend. It'll be a good environment in both places to have multi-event competitions."
Challengers in the heptathlon field this weekend for Victor include Georgia's Karl Saluri, who placed second in the SEC Indoor last season with a 5,792 tally, and Brad Culp of Arkansas, who finished fourth in the SEC and seventh at the NCAA Indoor.
The women's pentathlon features NCAA champion Kendell Williams of Georgia, who swept SEC and NCAA titles in 2016 and broke the collegiate record with a score of 4,703 points. The field also includes the Razorback pair of Taliyah Brooks, the SEC and NCAA runner-up in 2016, and Leigha Brown, who finished fourth in the SEC and ninth in the NCAA.
Representing Texas A&M in the event is Shaina Burns, who finished 11th in the SEC last season. A career best score of 3,701 by Burns from the 2014-15 season ranks No. 10 on the Aggie all-time list.
Invitational fields at the Razorback Invitational will feature previews of things to come this indoor season at the NCAA Indoor Championships the Aggies host in March. The top 16 marks in each event qualify individuals for the national championship meet.
"A lot of schools haven't opened up yet in certain areas, just like we haven't," noted Henry. "So there will be a little bit of the unknown here. The top 16 in each discipline, out of the entire country, advance to the indoor national championships. It's a very competitive environment, so we're looking forward to this one."
In the men's 400m the defending SEC champion, Kahmari Montgomery, will be challenged by Texas A&M's Mylik Kerley, the current world leader who clocked 46.31 last weekend, and LSU's Michael Cherry, who placed third in the 2016 NCAA Outdoor final.
Aggie Briyahna Desrosiers runs her first open 400m of the season in the women's Invitational race. Jazmine Fray will do the same over 800m after winning three races at three different distances this season in the 1,000m (2:43.15, school record), mile (4:44.87, No. 2 A&M) and 53.91 (No. 12 A&M).
Fray joins teammate Katie Willard in the 800m Invitational field. Willard holds the Aggie school record of 2:05.79 in the event and produced the third best performance with her 2:06.99 victory last weekend. The field includes three entries from Oklahoma State led by Savannah Camacho, who finished fourth in the NCAA Indoor final last year.
Texas A&M headlines the men's Invitational 4x400 relay with a collegiate leading time of 3:05.41, two seconds faster than Arkansas (3:07.51), who currently ranks second best this season. USC leads the women's 4x400 relay entries with the current collegiate leading time of 3:31.73, set on an oversized track, while the Aggie women have the second fastest time in the field with its 3:34.90.
Defending SEC Indoor pole vault champion Audie Wyatt, who set Texas A&M's school record with his 18-1 victory last year, will have an opportunity to size up challengers to his conference crown. Wyatt currently leads the conference with his 17-10 ½ clearance this past weekend while teammates Carl Johansson and Jacob Wooten both cleared 17-0 as the Aggies swept the top three places in its home meet.
Fresh off her pair of career best clearances indoors, Emily Gunderson leads the Texas A&M women's vaulting crew with a best of 13-8 ¼ this season. Joining Gunderson are Sara Kathryn Stevens and Augusta Thomason.
The host Razorbacks, though, feature a pair of vaulters who have each cleared 14 feet in twin sisters Alexis and Victoria Weeks. Alexis swept 2016 SEC and NCAA titles, indoors and outdoors, during her freshman campaign. Victoria is the current collegiate leader this indoor season.
Aggie Will Williams, third in the 2016 SEC Indoor and runner-up in the outdoor conference meet, is part of a talented long jump field. Leading the group of 20 jumpers is Florida's KeAndre Bates, who finished third outdoors at both SEC and NCAA meets.
A majority of the SEC schools are competing in the scored meet along with Oklahoma State, USC and Wake Forest. Action starts at 11:30 a.m. on Friday with the pentathlon and heptathlon while a live stream on the SEC Network + (http://es.pn/2iXs8Fc) will begin at 6 p.m.
Saturday's live coverage via the SEC Network (http://es.pn/2iWnTYu) will be available from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Live results from the meet are available at Flash Results.
"This was a meet we thought was going to have every SEC school competing," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "It should be a great competition and it's a step in the right direction for us after a couple of good home meets.
"This is our first road trip and we will find out some things about our younger people. We'll be able to see their competitiveness in a different environment."
There are nine men's teams and nine women's teams ranked among the top 25 in the latest USTFCCCA national team computer rankings. The men's field includes No. 1 Florida, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 10 USC, No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 17 Oklahoma State and No. 19 South Carolina.
The women's field includes No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 USC, No. 5 Florida, No. 7 LSU, No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Mississippi, No. 17 Tennessee and No. 24 South Carolina.
Aggie senior Lindon Victor competes in his first multi-event competition since the Olympic decathlon this past summer. Last year in the indoor heptathlon Victor broke the Texas A&M school record with a score of 5,776 points, which he produced in placing third at the SEC Indoor Championships. Victor also finished 10th in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Outdoors, Victor added a pair of throwing events to his arsenal in the decathlon. He claimed SEC and NCAA decathlon titles, producing the fourth best score on the collegiate all-time list with his Aggie school record score of 8,446 points which also set a SEC Championship meet record.
"This will be a shot for Lindon to score well against good competition," said Henry. "Shaina Burns will compete in the pentathlon as well. We will also have a multi-event at our next home meet the following weekend. It'll be a good environment in both places to have multi-event competitions."
Challengers in the heptathlon field this weekend for Victor include Georgia's Karl Saluri, who placed second in the SEC Indoor last season with a 5,792 tally, and Brad Culp of Arkansas, who finished fourth in the SEC and seventh at the NCAA Indoor.
The women's pentathlon features NCAA champion Kendell Williams of Georgia, who swept SEC and NCAA titles in 2016 and broke the collegiate record with a score of 4,703 points. The field also includes the Razorback pair of Taliyah Brooks, the SEC and NCAA runner-up in 2016, and Leigha Brown, who finished fourth in the SEC and ninth in the NCAA.
Representing Texas A&M in the event is Shaina Burns, who finished 11th in the SEC last season. A career best score of 3,701 by Burns from the 2014-15 season ranks No. 10 on the Aggie all-time list.
Invitational fields at the Razorback Invitational will feature previews of things to come this indoor season at the NCAA Indoor Championships the Aggies host in March. The top 16 marks in each event qualify individuals for the national championship meet.
"A lot of schools haven't opened up yet in certain areas, just like we haven't," noted Henry. "So there will be a little bit of the unknown here. The top 16 in each discipline, out of the entire country, advance to the indoor national championships. It's a very competitive environment, so we're looking forward to this one."
In the men's 400m the defending SEC champion, Kahmari Montgomery, will be challenged by Texas A&M's Mylik Kerley, the current world leader who clocked 46.31 last weekend, and LSU's Michael Cherry, who placed third in the 2016 NCAA Outdoor final.
Aggie Briyahna Desrosiers runs her first open 400m of the season in the women's Invitational race. Jazmine Fray will do the same over 800m after winning three races at three different distances this season in the 1,000m (2:43.15, school record), mile (4:44.87, No. 2 A&M) and 53.91 (No. 12 A&M).
Fray joins teammate Katie Willard in the 800m Invitational field. Willard holds the Aggie school record of 2:05.79 in the event and produced the third best performance with her 2:06.99 victory last weekend. The field includes three entries from Oklahoma State led by Savannah Camacho, who finished fourth in the NCAA Indoor final last year.
Texas A&M headlines the men's Invitational 4x400 relay with a collegiate leading time of 3:05.41, two seconds faster than Arkansas (3:07.51), who currently ranks second best this season. USC leads the women's 4x400 relay entries with the current collegiate leading time of 3:31.73, set on an oversized track, while the Aggie women have the second fastest time in the field with its 3:34.90.
Defending SEC Indoor pole vault champion Audie Wyatt, who set Texas A&M's school record with his 18-1 victory last year, will have an opportunity to size up challengers to his conference crown. Wyatt currently leads the conference with his 17-10 ½ clearance this past weekend while teammates Carl Johansson and Jacob Wooten both cleared 17-0 as the Aggies swept the top three places in its home meet.
Fresh off her pair of career best clearances indoors, Emily Gunderson leads the Texas A&M women's vaulting crew with a best of 13-8 ¼ this season. Joining Gunderson are Sara Kathryn Stevens and Augusta Thomason.
The host Razorbacks, though, feature a pair of vaulters who have each cleared 14 feet in twin sisters Alexis and Victoria Weeks. Alexis swept 2016 SEC and NCAA titles, indoors and outdoors, during her freshman campaign. Victoria is the current collegiate leader this indoor season.
Aggie Will Williams, third in the 2016 SEC Indoor and runner-up in the outdoor conference meet, is part of a talented long jump field. Leading the group of 20 jumpers is Florida's KeAndre Bates, who finished third outdoors at both SEC and NCAA meets.
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