April 05, 2008
A historic day at the 81st Texas Relays resulted in first-ever relay victories for the Aggie women in two relays as well as the University 100 meters.
?We?™re very pleased with those wins,? Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry said. ?Those wins are great for our program. Texas A&M left a mark here today. That will set up some things for us in the future.
?We?™ve got to pretty pleased with everything that happened today. The environment here is such that if you?™re not at your best you?™re not going to do much of anything. We needed to be where we are at this time of the year.?
The first victory for the Texas A&M women came in the 4 x 200 relay when the quartet of Jessica Beard, Khrystal Carter, Katie Baker and Allison George held off six-time champion LSU at the finish, 1:33.46 to 1:33.58.
?It was wonderful,? noted Baker of the significant moment. ?I was so excited when we found out. I?™m so happy that we accomplished it. Plus this is the first time we did this well as a team at the Texas Relays, so it?™s great to be part of that.?
A second relay crown for the Aggie women soon followed in the 4 x 100 relay, where a school record of 42.97 earned the victory over LSU?™s 43.10. In the process A&M broke its previous best mark of 43.05 they set in winning the NCAA Championship last season.
The Aggie women now hold the colleigate-leading time for 2008 with the foursome of Elizabeth Adeoti, Porscha Lucas, Simone Facey and Gabby Mayo. An all-star team of professionals ran 42.25 in another race at the Texas Relays to take over the world lead.
?We knew we had the ability to run 42-something, it was just a matter of time for us to do it,? Facey noted. ?We still have more things to work on, so hopefully we will run a 42.8 or 42.6 through the rest of the season.?
The large crowd, occupying every seat available inside Myers Stadium, reached a high point in the noise category during the final leg of the women?™s 4 x 100 as LSU?™s Kelly Ann Baptiste attempted to catch Mayo on the anchor leg.
?I knew (Baptiste) was coming and I could hear the crowd getting louder and louder,? Mayo recalled. ?I knew she was somewhere close, but I also knew she wasn?™t going to pass me. The crowd noise definitely made me run faster.
?I get so anxious while on the anchor leg, especially today since I knew the LSU fourth leg can run. I was running for my life when I got the baton.?
Lucas later achieved A&M?™s first title in the women?™s 100-meter dash, equaling her personal best time of 11.20. She defeated USC?™s Carol Rodriguez (11.34), TCU?™s Virgil Hodge (11.47), USC?™s Jessica Onyepunuka (11.51) and LSU?™s Kenyanna Wilson (11.53).
?I was really excited and glad that we were able to do it here in front of everyone,? Lucas stated. ?I can?™t wait for the rest of the season to see what we can accomplish. I?™ve never won an individual event at the Texas Relays. So, I?™m excited that I did that today and pleased that I?™m staying consistent with my 100 times.
?Today I didn?™t have a good start in the 100, but I was glad that I was able to keep running and have a good finish. In the relay we focused on doing the same things we do in practice. We just had to get our mind ready for today and we did.?
Simone Facey broke her Aggie school record in the women?™s Invitational 100, placing third with a career best time of 11.11. She bettered her school record of 11.16, which was set last summer in Kingston, Jamaica.
The top three finishers in the Invitational 100 all set personal best marks and established the top three times in the world this season. LSU?™s Kelly Ann Baptiste lowered her PR from 11.08 to 11.06 while Texas?™ Alexandria Anderson set a career best of 11.10 as the runner-up.
It was the first 100 of the season for Facey, who was pleased with the new personal best and school record.
?It?™s always a good feeling to run against the best and I?™m very happy with where I stand right now,? said Facey. ?It?™s fun breaking school records.?
The Aggie men?™s relay set a season best in the 4 x 100, clocking 38.90 to place second to LSU?™s 38.74. Texas A&M ran with the crew of Richard Adu-Bobie, Gerald Phiri, Dominique Stafford and Chris Dykes.
It?™s the first time since 2006 that an Aggie 4 x 1 unit has run sub 39 seconds. The 38.90 clocking places the group at No. 6 on the A&M all-time list.
?We?™re improving,? Phiri said. ?We came out here to run sub 39 and win. So, we were halfway there. LSU runs the relay with two 10.0s and a 10.3 on their squad. Our exchanges are still improving and we?™re still learning. Running a 38.90 with this group working together only the past couple of weeks is impressive.?
Phiri challenged LSU?™s Trinidon Holliday in the University men?™s 100, equaling the Tiger stride for stride on the way to a personal best of 10.22. Holliday won the race in 10.20. Phiri equals the No. 8 performer on the Aggie all-time list, matching the 10.22 run by Derrick Florence in 1988.
Two other Aggies in the nine person final had Stafford placing fifth in 10.39 while Adu-Bobie finished seventh in 10.44.
?I was expecting him to pull away from the field at some point in the race,? Phiri noted of Holliday. ?He?™s suppose to be the fastest starter in the nation and he proved that indoors.
?My race plan was to stay as close as possible to him and then use my top speed, which is my strongest part of the race, to catch him and pass him. But that wasn?™t the case. I held close to him, though, he didn?™t pull away from me.?
A long chase finally found Nick Robinson setting a personal best in the 400 hurdles as he clocked 50.01 to place second to Washington State?™s Jeshua Robinson collegiate leading 49.68.
Robinson, who moves to No. 6 on the Aggie all-time list, was third to Anderson and Baylor?™s Justin Boyd heading into the homestretch. A solid finish by Robinson sent him past Boyd and on the heels of Anderson. Robinson improved upon the 50.52 he set in 2006.
The meet finished off a great day of racing with a couple of hot 4 x 400 relay races.
In the women?™s race the Aggies were a strong runner-up to LSU?™s collegiate leading 3:29.72 with a season best of 3:32.21 for second place. Texas was third in 3:32.70.
A&M ran with the order of Sandy Wooten, Baker, Jennifer Williams and Beard.
The A&M men clocked a 3:04.55 to place third behind Baylor?™s 3:02.38 and LSU?™s 3:04.33. They ran with a foursome of Nick Robinson, Justin Oliver, Bryan Miller and A.C. Robinson.
?The level that we competed at today was very high for our team,? Henry commented. ?I?™m extremely pleased and it was an impressive performance by our group.?
Also finishing third in the Friday long jump was Julian Reid, who had a windy mark of 25-0 ?ľ (7.64).
Saturday field events also presented A&M with some highlights as Jessica Wingfield tossed the javelin 161-4 (49.17) to place fourth. Laura Asimakis finished eighth with a 152-6 (46.49).
Jennifer Williams placed fifth in the 100 hurdles, running a season best of 13.38 seconds while Whitney Holmes finished ninth in 13.85.
Ashika Charan placed seventh in the ?'A?™ division of the triple jump, reaching a distance of 42-3 ?˝ (12.89). Anteneshia Lindsey threw the discus 157-8 (48.06) for seventh place. Zuheir Sharif finished eighth in the men?™s triple jump with a mark of 51-11 ?ľ (15.84).