Feb. 12, 2009
College Station - A total of 21 teams will be involved with the two-day Texas A&M Invitational this Valentine's day weekend in the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
Based on rankings released by United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association this week there will be 12 top 25 ranked programs competing at the Texas A&M Invitational, which begins at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13, and 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.
Aggie seniors will be recognized at the start of the meet on Saturday. Later in the meet an elementary kid's 60-meter dash will be featured at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday.
Leading the women's field are the Aggies, who have maintained a hold on the No. 1 national ranking since the preseason version in early January. Other ranked squads competing in College Station this weekend include: No. 6 Texas, N. 10 Arizona State, No. 14 Texas Tech, No. 22 Miami, No. 23 UTEP and No. 25 Baylor. The Arizona State team won the women's NCAA Indoor title last season.
After opening the season at No. 6, the A&M men have made a weekly climb up the rankings to No. 4 this week.
However, the top ranked men's team at the Texas A&M Invitational will be No. 2 Arizona State, the defending NCAA Indoor Champions, followed by the Aggies at No. 4. The other ranked men's squads here this weekend include: No. 7 Texas, No. 9 Texas Tech, and No. 21 Baylor.
Teams competing also include Houston, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern State, Rice, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, SMU, TCU, Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, Texas Southern, Texas State, Texas-Arlington, and Texas-Pan American.
The Aggie squad returns to action at home after a weekend in New York City, where four A&M school records were broken during the New Balance Collegiate Invitational.
The women's team claimed its second team title in three years at the Armory while Yasmine Regis established school records in the 400, 60 hurdles and triple jump, respectively. The A&M men finished fourth in the meet as Zuheir Sharif claimed the school record in the triple jump.
There will be seven collegiate leaders among the Texas A&M Invitational field along with 17 event leaders from the Big 12. Some athletes may not compete in the event they are currently leading on the collegiate or Big 12 lists.
Collegiate leaders entered in the meet include the following:
MEN (3) 800 meters, Jacob Hernandez (Texas), 1:48.72; 4 x 400, Baylor, 3:08.53; Pole Vault, Jason Colwick (Rice), 18-4 ½.
WOMEN (4) 60 meters, Murielle Ahoure (Miami), 7.17; 200 meters, Murielle Ahoure (Miami), 23.26; High jump, Destinee Hooker (Texas), 6-3 ¼; Weight throw, Sarah Stevens (Arizona State), 70-10.
Big 12 leaders competing at Gilliam Indoor include:
MEN (9) 60 meters, Gerald Phiri (Texas A&M), 6.59; 200 meters, Gerald Phiri (Texas A&M), 21.01; 400 meters, Gil Roberts (Texas Tech), 46.59; 800 meters, Jacob Hernandez (Texas), 1:48.72; 1000 meters, Chris Gowell (Baylor), 2:25.58; 4 x 400, Baylor, 3:08.53; High Jump, Raymond Harris (Texas), 7-2 ½; Long Jump, Julian Reid (Texas A&M), 25-4 ¾; Shot Put, Harrison Benjamin (Texas Tech), 59-7
WOMEN (8) 60 meters, Yasmine Regis (Texas A&M), 44-4 ¼; Shot Put, Patience Knight (Texas Tech), 54-9 ¼.