May 02, 2008
A final regular season meet will have Texas A&M, No. 2 in the men?™s rankings and No. 3 in the women?™s, competing at the Houston Invitational hosted by the University of Houston. The Big 12 Championships will follow two weeks later on May 16-18 in Boulder, Colorado.
In addition to the Aggies and the host Cougars, the Houston Invitational will include the following teams: Incarnate Word, Prairie View A&M, SFA, Sam Houston, Southern-New Orleans, Rice, Texas, Texas Lutheran, Texas State, Texas Southern, and UT-Pan Am.
A few field events are being contested Friday, such as the pole vault, shot put and javelin, while the rest of the meet starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday and will conclude around 6 p.m. A group of 50 Aggie athletes will be competing this weekend.
Chad Brown won the men?™s javelin competition, reaching a distance of 211-2 (64.37) for the victory. Jonathan Ochoa of Texas State was the runner-up with a throw of 203-4. Brown became the third Aggie to qualify for the NCAA Midwest Regional in the javelin.
Laura Asimakis and Jennifer Davidson finished as the top two collegians in the women?™s pole vault as both cleared 12-7 ?˝ (3.85). Asimakis placed second overall based on fewer misses while Davidson finished third with a career best clearance that earned her a regional qualifying mark.
Davidson becomes the No. 3 performer and equal to the No. 8 performance on the Aggie all-time list.
In the men?™s pole vault Brett Bennett placed ninth with a clearance of 15-7 (4.75). Current collegiate leader Jason Colwick, of Rice, won the event with a mark of 18-0 ?˝ (5.50).
The field at Houston will also include post-collegians preparing for this summer?™s Olympic Trials. Standouts in the field include the past two NCAA Champions in the 400 meters in A&M?™s Clora Williams (2006) and South Carolina?™s Natasha Hastings (2007) along with former Cougar Ebonie Floyd, the 100 and 200 NCAA Midwest Champion in 2007. Another former Aggie NCAA Champion competing this weekend is Fabrice Lapierre, the 2005 NCAA long jump winner.
Also running in the sprint races is Monique Hennegan, the 2004 Olympic Trials champion who placed fourth at the Olympics. The 100 hurdles will feature Jenny Adams, who competed for Houston, who placed fifth in the 2004 Olympic Trials.
The Aggies head into this weekend leading the Big 12 in nine events. Texas A&M women will travel to Boulder as the defending Big 12 Champions after winning the school?™s first-ever outdoor title last May in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Aggie women have claimed the past three conference titles, with the 2008 Big 12 Indoor trophy serving as its latest conquest.
Following is a list of the events A&M leads with their respective marks:
Women
200 ?- Porscha Lucas, 22.69
400 ?- Jessica Beard, 52.04
4 x 100 ?- Texas A&M, 42.69
4 x 200 ?- Texas A&M, 1:30.96
4 x 400 ?- Texas A&M, 3:32.21
Men
100 ?- Gerald Phiri, 10.20
4 x 100 ?- Texas A&M, 38.83
Long jump ?- Julian Reid, 25-3 ?Ľ (7.70)
Triple jump ?- Julian Reid, 54-3 ?ľ (16.55)
The Final Sprint Podcast features Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry
The newest installment (Episode 138) of TheFinalSprint.com Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, is now available and it features an interview with Pat Henry, the head track & field coach at Texas A&M University.
Before bringing his renowned talents as a coach, recruiter and technician to Texas A&M, Henry spent nearly two decades at LSU where he built a dynasty that enabled his teams to win 27 NCAA Championships in 17 seasons at the helm.
Since arriving at College Station four years ago, he has turned the Texas A&M women into a national powerhouse. They have won three Big 12 titles in a row, placed 10th in the nation in 2006, 4th in 2007 and have been consistently ranked in the top three in 2008. The men's team ranked as high as No. 1 for two weeks during the 2008 outdoor season and is currently No. 2.
To listen-in and/or download this podcast interview, please visit:
http://www.thefinalsprint.com/2008/04/tfs-running-podcast-138-pat-henry-texas-am-track-field-head-coach/
In the interview, Henry discusses Texas A&M's development of one of the premier indoor track facilities in the nation and his coaching philosophy. Coach Henry also contrasts the LSU and Texas A&M teams, his recruiting classes, the supposed rivalry between the Tigers and the Aggies, international recruiting and much more!
Track & Field News: Women?™s NCAA Form Chart updated
Texas A&M is predicted for a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships, according to the updated form chart produced by Track & Field News magazine.
The Aggies are favored to win the 200 with Porscha Lucas as well as the 4 x 400 amid the 47 point tally the form charts predict. LSU remains the favorite for the title with 62 points followed by Arizona State?™s 57.
Following A&M are 4. Texas Tech (35); 5. tie, UCLA and Virginia Tech (34); 7. Michigan (27); 8. Florida State (26); 9. Penn State (24); 10. tie, Florida, Miami and Oregon (21).