Photo by: Errol Anderson
Aggies hold early lead in Razorback Invitational, women challenge pair of records
Jan 27, 2017 | Track and Field
FAYETTEVILLE – A strong first day for the Aggies resulted in stellar performances in various events at the Razorback Invitational with 1,476 fans in attendance on Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Complex. Action continues Saturday with three and a half hours of coverage available on the SEC Network from 1 to 4:30 p.m. (CT).
Texas A&M leads the men's team scoring, with six of 17 finals completed, at 46 points over Florida (28), Georgia (24), Tennessee (23), Arkansas (22.5) and LSU (22.5). On the women's side, with seven finals done, the team leader is Georgia at 52 points ahead of Arkansas (44), Texas A&M (39.33), LSU (26.33) and USC (25).
Lindon Victor totaled 3,383 points to grab the first day in the heptathlon, producing his second best first day score. Victor holds a 76 point edge over Georgia's Devon Williams (3,307) with another Bulldog, Karl Saluri (3,241), in third place.
Opening in the 60 meters, Victor ran 7.02 seconds (875 points), which was just off his career best of 6.99. A leap of 23-3 ½ (7.10) in the long jump generated 838 points. A career best of 53-4 ¼ (16.26) in the shot put produced 867 points and had Victor (2,580) within four points of leader Williams (2,584).
In the high jump Victor had a string of six first-attempt clearances leading up to 6-6 ¾ (2.00) for 803 points. He attempted a career best of 6-8 (2.03), but missed on three tries. On Saturday, Victor continues with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000m.
"It's a good start for the season, I just want to get a good score in and see what happens," said Victor, who had a career first day best of 3,424 points at the SEC Championships last season when he went on to break the Aggie school record with a 5,776 total.
"It started a little shaky and I'm shaking off some rust. I didn't like how the 60m or long jump went. I think I'm in a good place, though, right now. I had a PR in the shot put and I was able to jump really well in the high jump."
Fred Kerley, running in lane six and trying to maintain his balance off the last curve, sped to a career best of 20.58 seconds in the 200m, winning his section and placing second overall behind the world-leading 20.49 produced by Tennessee's Christian Coleman.
Kerley moves to third on the 2017 world list, and equals the No. 4 performer and No. 7 performance on the Texas A&M all-time list. It was Kerley's fourth 200m of the indoor season in which he has produced winning times of 20.85, 20.87 and 20.74 prior to this weekend.
The previous fastest 200m time recorded by an Aggie in a January meet was 20.69 by Curtis Mitchell in 2010. Mitchell went on to record a then school record of 20.38 in winning the NCAA Indoor title later that season.
Audie Wyatt won the men's pole vault with a 17-7 (5.36) clearance over Florida's Aaron Owens, who cleared the same height, but had one more miss. Both missed their respective attempts at 17-11 (5.46). Aggies also placed third and fourth with Jacob Wooten and Carl Johansson, who each cleared 16-7 ¼ (5.06), to compile 21 points.
A long jump of 25-6 (7.77) had Will Williams placing second in the long jump behind a mark of 25-8 ¾ (7.84) by Florioda's KeAndre Bates.
Emily Gunderson cleared another career best height in the women's pole vault, topping 13-8 ½ (4.18) on her first attempt. Gunderson then had three tries at a school record height of 14-0 ½ (4.28).
The effort placed Gunderson third in the competition behind the Arkansas twins, Victoria (collegiate leading 14-10 ¼) and Alexis Weeks (14-6 ¼). Gunderson, who set a pair of career best heights last weekend, is currently among the top 10 collegiate vaulters in the nation this season.
"Competing here is fun, the environment is good and the runway is fast," noted Gunderson. "Being consistent is what I was trying to focus on. The competition here was great and I'm getting ready for the SEC Championships.
"Two weeks in a row I've been able to clear PR heights on first attempts. It makes things a lot less stressful. I've been able to carry over things from practice and I'm focusing on small things to make sure I stay consistent with my vaulting."
Aggie teammates Augusta Thomason (13-0 ¾, No. 7 A&M) and Sara Kathryn Stevens (12-6 ¾) placed sixth and eighth in the pole vault, earning Texas A&M a total of 10 points.
In the women's 200m the Texas A&M sprinters placed fourth through seventh with the crew of Danyel White (23.26), Diamond Spaulding (23.57), Aaliyah Brown (23.59) and Amber Ivy (23.62). USC's Deanna Hill clocked a world-leading 22.94 to win the event.
A career best score of 3,846 points placed Shaina Burns fifth in a competitive pentathlon. The winner, with 4,476 points, was Georgia's Kendell Williams, the collegiate record holder (4,703) and defending SEC and NCAA champion. The top four finisher included the Arkansas pair of Kelsey Herman (4,278) and Leigha Brown (4,257) as well as Georgia's Louisa Grauvogel (3,956).
The score for Burns, which improved upon her previous best of 3,701 points, elevated her from No. 10 to No. 4 position on the Aggie all-time list.
Burns opened with a career best of 9.18 in the 60m hurdles for 873 points. Then a high jump best of 5-7 (1.70) followed for 855 points. Burns claimed the shot put competition in the pentathlon with a mark of 42-11 ¾ (13.10) for 734 points, moving into fourth place overall with a tally of 2,462 points. A long jump of 17-6 (5.33) netted 651 points and Burns wrapped up her day with a 2:26.82 (733) 800m effort.
Challenging the school record with a fourth-place time of 11:31.20 in the women's distance medley relay, the Aggie quartet of Arin Rice (3:26.81), Jarra Owens (54.54), Brittany Parker (2:10.09), and Laura Craig (4:59.76) came very close to the Texas A&M record of 11:29.89.
Oklahoma State, who dropped the baton on the last circuit of the opening 1,200m leg, rallied for the victory in 11:08.05 over LSU's 11:08.44 with Arkansas third in 11:15.54. Kaela Edwards, who set a collegiate record in the 1,000m (2:40.79) earlier this month, ran the 1,600m anchor leg in 4:31.22 for Oklahoma State, moving from fourth to first place.
The Aggie men originally placed fifth in the distance medley relay, clocking 9:50.86 with the foursome of Taylor Clayton (3:01.04), DeWitt Thomas (47.72), JaQwae Ellison (1:50.66) and Cameron Villarreal (4:11.44).
However, Texas A&M moved into fourth place following a disqualification of Arkansas, who had won the race in 9:33.46 over Oklahoma State (9:33.93), Mississippi (9:34.39) and LSU (9:36.22). Finishing behind the Aggies were Missouri (9:54.80) and Mississippi State (10:09.67).
Clearing 5-6 (1.68) in women's high jump had Kara Erickson finishing in a three-way tie for second place. Logan Boss of Mississippi State won the event with a 6-1 ¼ (1.86) effort.
Austin Cook finished fifth in the weight throw with a toss or 64-7 ¼ (19.69). The women's weight throw had Alison Ondrusek (61-9) placing ninth and Carissa van Beek (61-5) in 10th.
Texas A&M leads the men's team scoring, with six of 17 finals completed, at 46 points over Florida (28), Georgia (24), Tennessee (23), Arkansas (22.5) and LSU (22.5). On the women's side, with seven finals done, the team leader is Georgia at 52 points ahead of Arkansas (44), Texas A&M (39.33), LSU (26.33) and USC (25).
Lindon Victor totaled 3,383 points to grab the first day in the heptathlon, producing his second best first day score. Victor holds a 76 point edge over Georgia's Devon Williams (3,307) with another Bulldog, Karl Saluri (3,241), in third place.
Opening in the 60 meters, Victor ran 7.02 seconds (875 points), which was just off his career best of 6.99. A leap of 23-3 ½ (7.10) in the long jump generated 838 points. A career best of 53-4 ¼ (16.26) in the shot put produced 867 points and had Victor (2,580) within four points of leader Williams (2,584).
In the high jump Victor had a string of six first-attempt clearances leading up to 6-6 ¾ (2.00) for 803 points. He attempted a career best of 6-8 (2.03), but missed on three tries. On Saturday, Victor continues with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000m.
"It's a good start for the season, I just want to get a good score in and see what happens," said Victor, who had a career first day best of 3,424 points at the SEC Championships last season when he went on to break the Aggie school record with a 5,776 total.
"It started a little shaky and I'm shaking off some rust. I didn't like how the 60m or long jump went. I think I'm in a good place, though, right now. I had a PR in the shot put and I was able to jump really well in the high jump."
Fred Kerley, running in lane six and trying to maintain his balance off the last curve, sped to a career best of 20.58 seconds in the 200m, winning his section and placing second overall behind the world-leading 20.49 produced by Tennessee's Christian Coleman.
Kerley moves to third on the 2017 world list, and equals the No. 4 performer and No. 7 performance on the Texas A&M all-time list. It was Kerley's fourth 200m of the indoor season in which he has produced winning times of 20.85, 20.87 and 20.74 prior to this weekend.
The previous fastest 200m time recorded by an Aggie in a January meet was 20.69 by Curtis Mitchell in 2010. Mitchell went on to record a then school record of 20.38 in winning the NCAA Indoor title later that season.
Audie Wyatt won the men's pole vault with a 17-7 (5.36) clearance over Florida's Aaron Owens, who cleared the same height, but had one more miss. Both missed their respective attempts at 17-11 (5.46). Aggies also placed third and fourth with Jacob Wooten and Carl Johansson, who each cleared 16-7 ¼ (5.06), to compile 21 points.
A long jump of 25-6 (7.77) had Will Williams placing second in the long jump behind a mark of 25-8 ¾ (7.84) by Florioda's KeAndre Bates.
Emily Gunderson cleared another career best height in the women's pole vault, topping 13-8 ½ (4.18) on her first attempt. Gunderson then had three tries at a school record height of 14-0 ½ (4.28).
The effort placed Gunderson third in the competition behind the Arkansas twins, Victoria (collegiate leading 14-10 ¼) and Alexis Weeks (14-6 ¼). Gunderson, who set a pair of career best heights last weekend, is currently among the top 10 collegiate vaulters in the nation this season.
"Competing here is fun, the environment is good and the runway is fast," noted Gunderson. "Being consistent is what I was trying to focus on. The competition here was great and I'm getting ready for the SEC Championships.
"Two weeks in a row I've been able to clear PR heights on first attempts. It makes things a lot less stressful. I've been able to carry over things from practice and I'm focusing on small things to make sure I stay consistent with my vaulting."
Aggie teammates Augusta Thomason (13-0 ¾, No. 7 A&M) and Sara Kathryn Stevens (12-6 ¾) placed sixth and eighth in the pole vault, earning Texas A&M a total of 10 points.
In the women's 200m the Texas A&M sprinters placed fourth through seventh with the crew of Danyel White (23.26), Diamond Spaulding (23.57), Aaliyah Brown (23.59) and Amber Ivy (23.62). USC's Deanna Hill clocked a world-leading 22.94 to win the event.
A career best score of 3,846 points placed Shaina Burns fifth in a competitive pentathlon. The winner, with 4,476 points, was Georgia's Kendell Williams, the collegiate record holder (4,703) and defending SEC and NCAA champion. The top four finisher included the Arkansas pair of Kelsey Herman (4,278) and Leigha Brown (4,257) as well as Georgia's Louisa Grauvogel (3,956).
The score for Burns, which improved upon her previous best of 3,701 points, elevated her from No. 10 to No. 4 position on the Aggie all-time list.
Burns opened with a career best of 9.18 in the 60m hurdles for 873 points. Then a high jump best of 5-7 (1.70) followed for 855 points. Burns claimed the shot put competition in the pentathlon with a mark of 42-11 ¾ (13.10) for 734 points, moving into fourth place overall with a tally of 2,462 points. A long jump of 17-6 (5.33) netted 651 points and Burns wrapped up her day with a 2:26.82 (733) 800m effort.
Challenging the school record with a fourth-place time of 11:31.20 in the women's distance medley relay, the Aggie quartet of Arin Rice (3:26.81), Jarra Owens (54.54), Brittany Parker (2:10.09), and Laura Craig (4:59.76) came very close to the Texas A&M record of 11:29.89.
Oklahoma State, who dropped the baton on the last circuit of the opening 1,200m leg, rallied for the victory in 11:08.05 over LSU's 11:08.44 with Arkansas third in 11:15.54. Kaela Edwards, who set a collegiate record in the 1,000m (2:40.79) earlier this month, ran the 1,600m anchor leg in 4:31.22 for Oklahoma State, moving from fourth to first place.
The Aggie men originally placed fifth in the distance medley relay, clocking 9:50.86 with the foursome of Taylor Clayton (3:01.04), DeWitt Thomas (47.72), JaQwae Ellison (1:50.66) and Cameron Villarreal (4:11.44).
However, Texas A&M moved into fourth place following a disqualification of Arkansas, who had won the race in 9:33.46 over Oklahoma State (9:33.93), Mississippi (9:34.39) and LSU (9:36.22). Finishing behind the Aggies were Missouri (9:54.80) and Mississippi State (10:09.67).
Clearing 5-6 (1.68) in women's high jump had Kara Erickson finishing in a three-way tie for second place. Logan Boss of Mississippi State won the event with a 6-1 ¼ (1.86) effort.
Austin Cook finished fifth in the weight throw with a toss or 64-7 ¼ (19.69). The women's weight throw had Alison Ondrusek (61-9) placing ninth and Carissa van Beek (61-5) in 10th.
NCAA West Preview: Pat Henry
Tuesday, May 27
Pluckers Playmakers: Episode 5
Wednesday, May 07
44 Farms Preview: Pat Henry
Thursday, April 10
44 Farms Preview: Auhmad Robinson
Thursday, April 10
