Aggie Men Win Big 12 Outdoor Track & Field Championship
May 19, 2001 | Track and Field
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M; men's track and field team ran away with the Big 12 Outdoor Championship in dominating fashion Saturday, capturing its first conference crown in 20 years before 2,425 fans at the Frank G. Anderson Track and Field Complex.
Bolstered by strong performances from the meet's high-point scorer Bashir Ramzy (24.5) and a well-balanced squad, the No. 12-ranked men scored 159 points, the most ever for a Big 12 men's team, to win by 38.5 points over second-place Texas (120.5). Missouri was third (91), followed by Baylor (88) and Kansas State (75).
Saturday's landslide win was the first victory at any conference championship event in Aggieland since the 1989 baseball team's Southwest Conference Tournament win. The Big 12 title gives the A&M; track program 18 outdoor championships and 19 overall.
"It hasn't soaked in yet," said A&M; head coach Ted Nelson. "I cannot say enough about this team. They set a goal in September and everything fell into place. Even when it didn't, they never hung their heads. I'm extremely proud of the entire team. They were outstanding."
The Aggie men grabbed a total of six individual titles over the four-day meet to propel them to the convincing victory, including the turning-point win in the 4x100-meter relay early Saturday evening. Senior Kris Allen, sophomore Mike Mills, Ramzy and freshman Adam Wooten passed the baton to a 39.41 clocking, equaling the team's season-best. Texas passed out of the zone on the second handoff and did not finish, allowing the Aggies to open up a 47-point lead over Missouri and a 61.5-point lead over the Longhorns.
The stage may have been set for the Aggie men on Thursday when they received spectacular performance from a trio of decathletes. Junior Jake Boone, sophomore John Bloom and redshirt freshman Jason Matthews contributed 12 points in the grueling two-day event.
Boone, from Bellville, Texas, took fourth with a personal-best and NCAA provisional-qualifying total of 7,248 points. Bloom and Matthews finished fifth (7,109) and sixth (6,979), respectively, to get the ball rolling for A&M.;
On Friday, big points were expected in the discus and long jump with some of the conference's top performers in action for the maroon-and-white.
In the discus, conference leader Tolga Koseoglu proved why he is the best discus thrower the Big 12 has seen with an easy victory. The All-American shattered his own Big 12 meet record with a huge 204-1 throw. Redshirt freshman Josh Ralston picked up the bronze with a 193-8 measure, giving A&M; 16 points.
Taking advantage of a favorable tailwind, A&M; showed off its depth in the vertical jumps an hour later as four Aggies placed in the top seven in the long jump. Ramzy grabbed third with a of provisional-qualifying leap 25-10, while junior Brandon Evans, freshman Anderson Smith and Mills finished fourth (24-11 1/4), fifth (24-7 1/4) and seventh (24-5), respectively.
With the 17 points from the long jump, A&M; moved into the lead over Missouri, 45-43. However, the Tigers would regain the lead, 53-45, heading into the final day after a solid showing in the high jump later Friday evening.
A solid 21-point contribution in the first event on Saturday, the javelin, gave the maroon-and-white a six-point lead over Missouri they would never relinquish. Redshirt freshman Luke Marrs won with a career-best throw of 235 feet, three inches, while sophomore Ryan Duplichan (211-10), redshirt freshman Jason Matthews (210-4) and sophomore John Bloom (202-0) finished fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.
In the triple jump, Ramzy grabbed the bronze medal with a season-best 52-0 measure. Battling a sore hamstring which kept him out of the running events later in the evening, Evans managed a courageous fourth-place finish (51-0 3/4).
Senior All-American Jon Nance pulled off a thrilling upset in the pole vault later in the afternoon for 10 more points. Nance cleared 18-0 1/2 on his third and final attempt for the win over Baylor's Jim Autenreith (17-8 1/2) and national leader Brian Hunter of Texas (17-5). No-heights by senior Richard McDonald and sophomore Chad Walters might have allowed Texas to close the gap, but Nance pulled through with his exciting win to add to the rolling ball of Aggie momentum.
To honor Armed Forces Day, a Stealth 117-A Nighthawk Fighter performed a flyover as part of the opening ceremonies immediately before Saturday evening's running event finals. In stealth-like fashion, Juan DeBastos, the school record-holder, nearly pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the day in the first men's race, the 3,000-meter steeplechase. With the season-high crowd urging him on, the two-time junior college national champion quietly stayed with the lead pack for the majority of the race. The Argentina native then legged it out with Colorado's Steve Slattery, the No. 3-ranked steepler in the nation, on the final lap before finishing second in 8:48.71.
Senior steepler Carl Stewart scratched for four more Aggie points with his fifth-place, 9:09.47 finish to give A&M; a 99-60 lead over Missouri.
The distance crew wasn't done making noise yet, as three underclassmen placed in the top eight in the 1,500 following the 4x1's dominating victory. Sophomore Tommy Bonn caught Texas' Jordan McCambridge at the finish line for third place with a 3:50.22 clocking. Junior Mike Hummel and sophomore Jayme D'Agnolo finished sixth (3:51.78) and seventh (3:52.52), respectively, opening the Aggie lead to 120-63 over the Tigers.
The Aggies scored 13 points in the next event, the 110 hurdles. Ramzy's 13.78 clocking in the 110 hurdles not long after the convincing 4x1 win was good for yet another Aggie victory over a Texas runner, this time Jermaine Cooper who finished in 13.88. Mills finished sixth with a time of 14.27, and the Aggie lead was up to 70 points.
Texas was able to jump ahead of Missouri and close the gap somewhat following the 400 and 100 dashes, but still stood 59.5 points back of the Aggies. For A&M;, freshman Jonté Buhl took sixth in the quarter with a season-best time of 47.03, while Wooten took third in the 100 with a provisional-qualifying 10.32.
Wooten's 20.59 victory in the 200 sealed the deal for the Aggie men, as they stood 44.5 points (159-114.5) ahead of the Horns with just two events left. With an unattainable lead, A&M; chose not to participate in the finale, the 1,600 relay. Texas finished third in the relay for their final tally of 120.5.
Texas A&M; crowned six individual champions, including one relay title, with Ramzy (110 hurdles) and Koseoglu (discus) successfully defending championships won last year. Ramzy became the meet's high point-scorer for the second consecutive year after setting the Big 12 standard with 28.5 points in 2000. The Dallas native scored 24.5 points by winning the 110 hurdles, taking third in the long and triple jumps and running a leg on the victorious 400 relay squad.
As a team, A&M; captured its first conference track and field crown since 1981 in front of a combined total of 6,277 fans during the four-day festival. A large number of Aggies will move on to compete in the NCAA Outdoor Championships hosted by the University of Oregon Wednesday, May 30, through Saturday, June 2.
Aggie Women Take Fourth At Big 12 Outdoor
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The Texas A&M; women's track and field team took fourth place behind three individual titles at the 2001 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Texas A&M; University at the Frank G. Anderson Track and Field Complex.
The Aggie women finished fourth for the second consecutive year in the team standings, scoring 88.2 points, their highest total in the history of the Big 12 Conference. Kansas State won its first-ever Big 12 track and field title with 128.25 points. Nebraska was second (117.5), followed by Texas (109.5), A&M; and Baylor (80).
Despite a few key performers, like defending javelin champion Katy Doyle and high-jumper Robyn Burkhardt, out with injuries, A&M; challenged for one of the top three spots for most of the meet. The Aggies grabbed three individual crowns, the most at one meet since 1997, and had several outstanding showings over the four-day meet.
"We had one of our strongest conference meets ever," said associate head coach Ed Marcinkiewicz. "I am so proud of the way the girls went out there and competed each day. They didn't back down from any challenges. I would have liked to had all our guns, but to score 88 points with two girls like Katy (Doyle) and Robyn (Burkhardt) out at the Big 12 meet is something to be very proud of."
The race for the Big 12 women's title got off to a solid start with one of the strongest heptathlon competitions ever witnessed. A&M; placed Desi Hudson and Kendra Reimer in the top five with a couple of career performances. Hudson, a senior from Albany, Texas, scored an NCAA provisional-qualifying 5,543 points for fourth, while Reimer, a sophomore from New Braunfels, Texas, took fifth with 5,539 points, also a provisional qualifier.
Kansas State's Austra Skujyte ran away with the heptathlon title, scoring an all-time Big 12 best point-total of 6,150, a mark which leads the world. The 2000 Lithuanian Olympian also set the Big 12 meet record with 6,134 points after reverting to a wind-legal long jump worth 16 points less than her best mark of the competition.
Earlier in the day, Meshell Trotter won her first-ever Big 12 crown in the hammer throw. The senior from Hook, Texas, out-threw the field with her second attempt of the day. The indoor All-American measure a 190-3 effort for the win over Erin Wibbels of Nebraska (186-6).
In all, the top eight finishers all scored over 5,300 points, with the top three meeting the NCAA automatic standard of 5,550. A&M; ended day two in second place behind Kansas State with 19 points.
On Friday, the Aggie women showed their depth in the field events. Meghan Koonce scored 11 points by herself in the throws, while Chimika Carter enjoyed a career day in the long jump and on the track.
Koonce, a senior from Grand Saline, Texas, secured silver in the discus with a provisional-qualifying toss of 171-2 and later came back to finish fifth in the shot put with a school-record mark of 49-9 1/4.
Carter, a senior from Groesbeck, Texas, leaped out to a personal-best and measure of 21-6 3/4 to win her first-ever Big 12 title. Carter's jump was illegal toward NCAA qualifying, but she did record an NCAA wind-legal jump of 21-2 3/4, a provisional qualifier.
One day after finishing fifth in the heptathlon, Kendra Reimer took sixth in the long jump with a career-best effort of 20-2 1/2.
With the 13 points in the long jump, A&M; took a brief 40-36 lead of the Wildcats. Kansas State would fight back for the lead entering the final day lead over Nebraska 60.5-50. A&M; would enter Saturday in third with 43.2 points.
Friday evening's running preliminaries saw Carter complete her career day with the fastest qualifying time in the 100-meter hurdles, an automatic-qualifying 13.04. Ohaeri's 13.05 clocking gave A&M; the top two qualifiers for Saturday's finals.
On Saturday, Carter scratched for two points in the triple jump with a 39-2 1/4 measure. Sophomore Sarah Steadman took seventh in the first running final, the 3,000 steeplechase, with a time of 11:04.33.
Minutes later, Ohaeri successfully-defended her Big 12 100-meter hurdle crown with a narrow victory over Carter. Both Aggies posted 13.09 clockings, but Ohaeri edged Carter on the finish photo.
Junior Melissa Gulli contributed 16 points Saturday, picking up a couple of silvers in the distance races. The indoor All-American clocked a 4:24.45 in the 1,500 and came back two hours later to finish the 5,000 in 16:30.92.
In the team race, A&M; moved into second following the spectacular 100 hurdle race, as Kansas State held a 95.5-74.2 lead over the Aggies. Following the 400 hurdles, A&M; would eventually fall to fourth for good, as Nebraska and Texas leapfrogged the Aggies into second and third, respectively.
Individually, A&M; grabbed three conference titles, including a title-defense by Ohaeri in the 100 hurdles. As a team, the Aggie women finished fourth for the second straight year and scored more points at a Big 12 meet than ever before.
A number of Aggie women are slated to compete at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships hosted by the University of Oregon Wednesday, May 30, through Saturday, June 2.
