January 25, 2008
On a night when the Texas A&M sprinters stepped onto the track for the first time this indoor season during the two-day Razorback Invitational, Porscha Lucas recorded an indoor personal best of 23.16 seconds in placing second in the 200 meters.
In the field events Julian Reid made his debut with the Aggie memorable as a last round jump placed him second with a mark of 25-2 ?˝ (7.68), making the Jamaican freshman the No. 4 performer with the 12th best performance on the A&M indoor all-time list.
The time by Lucas, an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championships that will take place on this same Randal Tyson Track Center, improves upon the No. 2 standing Lucas held on the Aggie all-time indoor list with her previous best of 23.37 and became the third-fastest performance. She only trails a 22.97 and 23.04 recorded by Simone Facey during the NCAA meet last year.
?I?™m very proud of myself,? Lucas noted. ?I?™m glad I opened the way I did. Now I have something to keep pushing towards the rest of the indoor season. I?™m really looking forward to seeing what the season is going to bring for me. Hopefully at each meet I?™ll continue to get better.?
Lucas, who was second to the 23.09 recorded by LSU?™s Samantha Henry, ran the fastest time by an Aggie ever in the month of January, bettering the 23.40 Facey clocked last season at altitude in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Lucas ran 23.70 at the New Mexico Invitational last year.
Reid produced a mark of 24-11 ?ľ (7.61) to better his previous career best of 24-9 ?˝ (7.54) in the second round of six jumps.
By the final round, though, Reid found himself stationed in fourth place behind the leading mark of Arkansas?™ Alain Bailey (25-7 1/4 / 7.80) along with marks of 25-0 (7.62) from another Razorback Daniel Quinn and a 24-11 ?ľ (7.61) by LSU?™s Jeremy Hicks.
A final round leap of 25-2 ?˝ moved Reid into second place and the Aggie record book. Last season the mark Reid produced advanced to the NCAA Championship field from the provisional list.
Freshmen Jessica Beard and Gabby Mayo along with junior newcomer Allison George also added their names among the 200-meter top 10 list in their debut performance with Texas A&M.
Beard won her heat in with ease in clocking a 23.75 NCAA provisional time and placed fifth overall in a field of 80 entrants. She becomes the No. 3 performer in the event with the 15th best performance, of which Facey holds seven marks above Beard and Lucas now has seven as well.
Mayo, runner-up in her heat with a 24.09 and sixth overall, moves onto the Aggie top 10 list at No. 8. George won her heat over teammate Sandy Wooten with a 24.16 to 24.26 margin. George, a NJCAA 400 champion, is now No. 10 on the all-time A&M list, one spot ahead of Clora Williams?™ 24.18 indoor best. Wooten improved her indoor best in the event from a previous mark of 24.85.
Of the top 16 times in the event on the Arkansas track, Texas A&M claimed eight of them. Other Aggie heat winners included Elizabeth Adeoti (24.35) and Lindsey Adams (24.49) while Khrystal Carter (24.56) was a runner-up.
In the men?™s 200 Chris Dykes was runner-up in his heat and second overall among collegians with a time of 21.32. Teammate Richard Adu-Bobie ran in the same heat, clocking 21.55 for third in the race and ninth overall.
Aggie newcomers in this event included Brandon Lowe (21.79), Gerald Phiri (22.11) and Dominique Stafford (22.12).
Josh Tiemann attempted the weight throw for the first time and produced a mark of 52-1 (15.87) to place fourth in the event. He is currently No. 6 on the Aggie all-time list.
Trinity Otto opened the competition Friday in the heptathlon. Through the first four events contested on the first day Otto is currently in third place with a total of 2,833 points.
Aaron Harlan of Stephen F. Austin leads the field with 2,968 points followed by Oklahoma?™s Mitch Henry with 2,943.
Otto recorded the third fastest time in the 60 (7.18 seconds) among the field of 13 entrants to claim 819 points in the first event. Then a 21-0 (6.40) mark in the long jump followed for 675 points. In the shot put Otto reached a distance of 40-4 ?ľ (12.31) for 625 points. The first day finished with the high jump, where Otto cleared 6-2 ?ľ (1.90) for 714 points.
Anteneshia Lindsey placed fourth in the shot put, opening the season with a mark of 47-8 (14.53) while Lindsey Frazier established an indoor best of 43-8 ?˝ (13.32) for eighth place.
Brandon Letsinger tied for 13th in the high jump as he cleared 6-6 ?ľ (2.00). In the pole vault Brett Bennett placed 13th with a clearance of 15-9 (4.80) while Chad Stoermer finished 19th at 15-3 (4.80). Ashley McCarty was 12th in the long jump (17-11 / 5.46). Vincent Scillitani placed 19th in the men?™s long jump (22-3 ?ľ / 6.80).