Aggies host nation's elite teams in SEC Indoor Championships

Feb 23, 2018 | Track and Field

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COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M, with the men and women each ranked seventh nationally, hosts the 2018 SEC Indoor Championships this Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25, in Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.

Multi-event competition in the men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday with field events and running prelims starting at 3 p.m. On Sunday, the second day of the men's heptathlon continues at 2:30 p.m. with field events and finals on the track starting at 5 p.m.

For the first time, the final day of the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be televised live on the SEC Network beginning at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Live streaming of the competition will air on SECN+ Saturday at 2:55 p.m. Live results throughout the weekend will be available at http://www.flashresults.com/2018_Meets/Indoor/02-23_SEC/index.htm.

"It's probably the finest track meet in the country," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "This one rivals the NCAA Championships and from a team aspect there is no better meet than the SEC. The enthusiasm that goes into this conference meet is second to none.

"It's a great one to watch, to participate in and be involved in from a coaching standpoint. It's a win for our community to host it. We're ready to go, but whether we have enough bullets to win I don't know yet. I look for us to have good performances and maybe the home environment will enable us to get a little bit better."

National team rankings this week have the Arkansas women ranked No. 1, followed by Kentucky (3), Georgia (4), LSU (6), Texas A&M (7), Florida (8), Missouri (12), Tennessee (14), Alabama (17) and Mississippi State (24).

No. 2 Florida headlines the SEC men's teams in the national rankings. The Gators are followed by Arkansas (3), Georgia (5), Texas A&M (7), Alabama (8), Kentucky (11), South Carolina (23) and Auburn (25).

Texas A&M men finished in a three-way tie for third place in the SEC Indoor meet last season, scoring 76 points to equal the total shared by Florida and Mississippi. Then the Aggies went on to win the NCAA Indoor team title by half a point over the Gators in front of an energetic Gilliam crowd. It marked the fourth time for Texas A&M to place third at the SEC Indoor meet since joining the conference, while the Aggies achieved a runner-up finish in 2016.

The Texas A&M women produced a runner-up finish the last time the Aggies hosted the SEC Indoor meet in 2014 and also finished third twice, in 2013 and 2015. The past two seasons Texas A&M has placed seventh.

Returning medalist for the Aggies include two-time SEC Indoor champion Audie Wyatt in the pole vault, collegiate record holder Jazmine Fray in the 800 meters, an event she swept both indoor and outdoor SEC titles a year ago.

Wyatt, who has cleared 18-1 ¼ this season, and Fray, who ran her second fastest time ever indoors at 2:02.30, each have a primary challenger in their respective title defense from teammates Jacob Wooten and Sammy Watson.

Wooten has won five of six meets this indoor and broke Wyatt's school record of 18-2 ½ with clearances of 18-3 in Fayetteville and 18-4 ½ in Clemson. The tandem of Wooten and Wyatt has resulted in 1-2 scoring finishes for the Aggies in four meets this indoor season.

Watson set a Texas A&M record in her debut race for the Aggies, clocking 2:42.12 in the 1,000m during a December meet. Watson also anchored the A&M distance medley relay to school record performances of 11:12.06 in January and an 11:03.10 in February with 1,600m splits of 4:42.97 and 4:38.0. Watson's lone race at 800m this indoor campaign produced a winning time of 2:03.42, the second best performer and fifth best performance on the Aggie all-time list behind four marks by Fray.

"I'm excited since we are hosting the meet at Texas A&M," noted Fray. "This is a high-caliber meet and I think we have a high-caliber team. I'm feeling very confident and excited going into this meet. It's very comforting to have the SEC Indoor at Texas A&M with a home-field advantage.

"I've been working with Sammy Watson, we've been running and training together. It's really been great and really fun. I'm going to take that confidence we both have and we'll work together, competing to best of our abilities."

The Aggie men have won four of the past five titles in the men's 4x400 relay. Last year Texas A&M produced a world best time of 3:02.39 on an oversized track to break the meet record. Florida, who won the relay in 2016, has been runner-up to the Aggies the four times Texas A&M has claimed the victory.

Texas A&M also has a pair of returning bronze medalists from last year's indoor conference meet in long jumper Will Williams and sprinter Danyel White in the 200m.

Williams, who improved his career best in the 60m to 6.71, has a season's best of 25-9 ¼ in the long jump. He will have some company in the jumping events with Aggie newcomer Tahar Triki of Algeria, who will make his debut in a Texas A&M uniform during the conference meet by competing in the long and triple jump events.

White posted a career indoor best of 23.00 as a freshman in 2017 during the NCAA semifinal. This season she has approached that performance with times of 23.10 to win the Texas A&M Quadrangular and 23.08 for fifth place at Clemson.

Alex Riba became a scoring threat for the Aggies when he broke the school record in the mile, becoming the first Texas A&M athlete to break four minutes with a 3:59.12 to win the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational. Riba also anchors the distance medley relay, where the Aggies produced the second fastest time in school history with a 9:32.99 at Notre Dame.

"It's our first time hosting the indoor SEC meet since 2014, and we're glad to be back home on our track," noted Riba. "It's always an advantage being comfortable with the track we train on. Being a senior it's great to perform on this level in front of a home crowd. We're ready to compete for a title. Individually, the goal is to score as many points as possible."

Devin Dixon, the SEC outdoor champion in 2017 who was tripped during the indoor conference meet, leads the league in the 800m with his 1:47.37 facility record at Clemson. Mylik Kerley (46.10) and Robert Grant (46.22) are contenders for medals in the 400m.

Aggie women in contention for medals based on their current ranking in the SEC include Alison Ondrusek (69-11 ¾) in the weight throw, Lajarvia Brown in the triple jump (43-8) along with Tyra Gittens (4,009) and Shaina Burns (4,006) in the pentathlon.