June 10, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa- With the collegiate track and field season reaching its final weekend with a four-day showcase at the home of the Drake Relays, the Aggies are in a position to produce the top combined finish in the history of the program.
“We’re extremely pleased to get a group of this size here,” noted Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry of the 34 Aggie athletes who qualified for the meet. “That’s our first battle.
“The national championships bring out the best in every individual. This is a testing ground. This is where you find out what you’re really made of. We’ve worked on it all year long to be ready for this track meet.”
The latest form chart from Track & Field News magazine has the Aggie women in a closely contested battle for the team title with two other teams, No. 1 LSU and No. 3 Arizona State. Predictions have LSU winning the title with 61 points while the defending champion Sun Devils are tabbed for second place with 58 points and A&M is slotted for third place with 56 points.
In the men’s team title chase Track & Field News predicts Florida State will win its third consecutive team title with 56 points over 55 from LSU. The magazine tabs the Aggies for fifth place with 30 points.
“While we want to have a balanced program at Texas A&M, that doesn’t always win meets on this level,” Henry said. “You can come in here with a few great athletes and win this track meet with four or five great ones. Depth is not as important here as is quality.
The past two outdoor championship meets have seen the Aggie women record the best finish in the program’s history, placing 10th in 2006 and fourth in 2007. The Texas A&M men’s program, which has scored in 30 consecutive NCAA outdoor meets, seeks a top 10 finish after placing in a tie for 29th (2005), 20th (2006) and 22nd (2007) the past few years.
NCAA Championship action begins on Wednesday, June 11, and continues through Saturday, June 14. Coverage of the NCAA Track and Field Championships will be available on CBS College Sports Network (formerly CSTV) from 7 to 10 p.m. (CST) on Friday, June 13. Then CBS will have live coverage from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 14.
Wednesday will be a busy first day for the Aggies as they contest 13 events. The afternoon session will have Aggies competing in three field events and at least 10 races on the track.
Seniors Josh Tiemann and Dylan Conway are in the men’s discus at 1:30 p.m. while freshman Julian Reid is in the men’s long jump at 3:30 p.m. Also getting started in the women’s long jump is sophomore Ashika Charan at 6:15 p.m.
With fields of at least 26 athletes in those three field events, the qualifying round will take the top 12 athletes to the final. Each event also has an automatic mark that will secure an athlete into the final round.
“We have some good balance with our jumpers doing a great job and we have a steeplechaser here,” Henry said. “Plus we have two discus throwers here and a shot putter.
“Tiemann and Conway in the discus and Javier Olivas in the shot put have been in the program four years and have worked really hard. They’ve taken their knocks and done some good things this year. They definitely earned their way in here.”
On the track the 4 x 100 prelims will start the running action at 4:30 p.m. The Aggie women enter the meet as the defending champions in this event while the A&M men seek to improve upon a sixth-place finish in 2006.
Other running events involving the Aggies include prelims in the 100, 400 hurdles, 400 meters, semifinals of the 100, the steeplechase and 5,000 meters.
Junior Kevin McNab, who was a late entry into the NCAA field, competes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for A&M while sophomore Christina Munoz, an NCAA qualifier during the cross country season, runs in the prelims of the 5,000 meters.
Six Aggies will crouch into the starting blocks for the first round of the 100 meters Wednesday. The men’s tandem includes senior Richard Adu-Bobie and freshman Gerald Phiri. In the women’s race are senior Simone Facey and a trio of sophomores in Porscha Lucas, Khrystal Carter and Elizabeth Adeoti.
Among a women’s field of 30 women sprinters and 26 men, 16 athletes will advance to the semifinals run an hour and a half later the same evening. Then eight will advance from the semi to Friday’s final.
“Our men’s sprint group has done well,” Henry added. “Whether we can get through this one healthy or not may be the key.
“For us to be successful on the women’s side here we have to do well in the jumps and hopefully have someone step up and get something in the javelin too. Those kind of points are huge in terms of being successful here.”
Competing in the 400 hurdles for Texas A&M are seniors Nick Robinson and Lindsey Adams. In the 400 the field includes Aggie senior A.C. Robinson along with freshmen Bryan Miller and Jessica Beard.
On Thursday the four-person javelin crew will take the field for the Aggie women while Olivas contests the shot put. Meanwhile, action on the track features the first-round in the 100 hurdles, 200 meters and 4 x 400 relay.
Two-time NCAA All-American Jessica Wingfield is the senior leader of the Aggie javelin group. It includes sophomore Hillary Pustka along with a pair of freshmen in Laura Asimakis and Emalie Humphreys.
Senior Jennifer Williams runs in the 100 hurdles on Thursday as junior Allison George joins Lucas and Facey in the first round of the 200. The men will have junior Chris Dykes and Phiri in the men’s 200. Then the 4 x 400 prelims close out action for A&M that evening.
The Aggie triple jump crews have to wait until Friday to open their qualifying rounds. The men go first with a crew that includes sophomore Zuheir Sharif along with three freshmen in Reid, Tyron Stewart and Melvin Echard. In the women’s triple jump, A&M will be represented by junior Yasmine Regis and Charan.
Texas A&M is one of four schools to have all four relays qualified for the NCAA Championship field. The other three programs include LSU, South Carolina and Baylor.
On the national collegiate list for 2008 the Aggie men’s relays rank third (38.83) in the 4 x 100 and second (3:03.42) in the 4 x 400. Meanwhile, the A&M women’s relays rank second (42.69) in the 4 x 100 and fifth (3:32.21) in the 4 x 400.
The Aggie women had a national championship experience last year in Sacramento when they won the 4 x 100 relay in a school record 43.05.
Three-fourths of the 2007 line-up return as the defending champions in the sprint relay and currently hold a school record of 42.69. In fact, the school record set in winning the title last season is now the No. 4 performance on the A&M all-time list.
The returning trio for Texas A&M includes Adeoti, Lucas and Facey.
Lucas is the current world leader for 2008 in the 200 with her school record mark of 22.29 set in winning the Big 12 title in Boulder, Colorado, and earning the conference Performer of the Year award. Her time ranks equal to the No. 3 performer on the collegiate all-time list.
“For me, and the 4 x 1, I just want to do better than last year,” Lucas said. “Hopefully we come out with another win the 4 x 1.
“I’m really excited to still be the world leader in the 200, especially only being a sophomore in school. I’m pretty young still. I was very pleased to run that time to win the Big 12 and it’s been fun to see it remain atop the world list.”
Facey defended her Big 12 title in the 100 and eclipsed the 11-second barrier with a clocking of 10.95. The Big 12 women’s high point scorer for the second year in a row, Facey’s 100 time ranks No. 2 on the collegiate all-time list.
“For me it’s always fun to come back and be part of a NCAA Championship,” Facey noted. “All I have to do is keep focused and go do my very best. I hope I can do enough to help the team win a national championship.
“This year has been different from last year in the relay. This season we are more focused and our exchanges are deeper in the zone. We’re ready to go and break the championship record.”
Adeoti has been the leadoff leg of the sprint relay for 12 of the 15 fastest times the squad has recorded the past two seasons.
George ran the opening leg while freshman Gabby Mayo supplied the anchor role when the Aggies recorded a school record of 42.69 at the Penn Relays, becoming the second fastest school ever in the event with the No. 6 performance.
“I’m happy that Simone and I were able to win both sprint events at the Big 12 and Midwest Region,” Lucas added. “Even during the NCAA Indoor meet Simone was saying that I was starting to take over for next year.
“When she said that it made me feel good, that she was passing the torch to me. I’m just happy that I’ll be able to continue and keep A&M on a high level in the sprints.”
In the men’s 4 x 400 relay two legs make a return visit to the NCAA Championship off the Aggie relay that placed second a year ago with the school’s fastest time not set at altitude, a mark of 3:01.07.
Returning from last year’s race are A. Robinson and Justin Oliver. Bryant McCombs would have been a third returnee from that race, but an Achilles injury sidelined him during the indoor season.
Miller ran the opening leg while N. Robinson handled the third leg with A. Robinson running the second leg and Oliver on anchor when the Aggies posted their fastest time of the season, a 3:03.42 for second place at the Midwest Region.
Last season A&M finished as runner-up to Baylor in three consecutive postseason meets, the Big 12, Midwest Region and NCAA Championships. During the prelims of the NCAA meet, though, the Aggies defeated Baylor to snap the Bear’s run of 14 consecutive victories.
Texas A&M has followed the same path in 2008 with runner-up efforts at the Big 12 meet and Midwest Region to Baylor.