March 31, 2009
AUSTIN - With the 82nd version of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays set to start on Wednesday at Mike A. Myers Stadium, a crew of 50-plus Texas A&M athletes will compete in the meet over the course of the week.
Trinity Otto will be the first Aggie in action as he competes in the decathlon on Wednesday along with four A&M distance runners. Relay action on Friday and Saturday will find the Aggie men entered in five events - 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, Sprint Medley, 4x1500 - while the women are contesting three relays - 4x100, 4x200, 4x400.
The A&M women will be defending their first-ever Texas Relays titles they won a year ago in the 4x1 and 4x2. Both of the Aggies sprint relay units head into the meet with collegiate leading times they set two weeks ago at USC. The men sport a best of 39.32 seconds while the women have clocked 43.67.
Porscha Lucas will contest the Invitational 100 meters after winning the University title last season, another first for the Aggies at the Texas Relays. Lucas enters the Texas Relays as the current world leader in the 100 with her winning time of 11.24 seconds from the Arizona State Invitational.
Otto set a then personal best of 7,082 points in last year's Texas Relays decathlon in placing 10th. He later improved his score to 7,166 in finishing sixth at the Big 12 Championships. A score over 7,241 would place him among the top 10 on the A&M all-time list. For NCAA qualifying a tally of 7,500 points earns automatic entry into the NCAA Championships while any score above 6,900 is a provisional mark.
Joining Otto in action on Wednesday will be a crew of distance runners. MacLean O'Donnell and Jeremy Warren. Then Mitch Bible will make his outdoor debut in the University 5,000 meter race.
Action begins Wednesday at noon with the start of the decathlon along with distance races that evening. Thursday will continue with the second day of the decathlon, starting at 11 a.m., and includes the hammer, 400 hurdles and 4 x 800 relays. Both Wednesday and Thursday have free admission to Myers Stadium.
Competing for Texas A&M on Thursday will be Deidre Tarver in the women's hammer, Courtnie Allen in the women's 400 hurdles and Seth Mabry in the men's 400 hurdles.
Friday's events begin at 9:30 a.m. and continue through to 10 p.m. that evening. Saturday opens at 9 a.m. with high school events while university competition begins at noon. The meet concludes with a series of 4 x 400 relays starting around 4:30 p.m.
All-session passes for Friday and Saturday are $30 for reserved and $20 for general admission. Individual tickets for either day are $15 for reserved and $10 general admission. Tickets can be purchased in advanced by calling the ticket office at 512-471-3333.