May 17, 2009
LUBBOCK - A runner-up finish for Trinity Otto in the decathlon highlighted the second day of action for Texas A&M at the Big 12 Track and Field Championship on the Texas Tech campus.
Going into the final day of the conference championship meet on Sunday the Aggie women currently have 15 points in eighth place while the A&M men have a tally of 25 in fifth place, thanks in part to 16 points scored in the long jump.
Nebraska leads team scoring on both sides with the men establishing 69 points and the women 35. Missouri (36), Kansas State (33), Texas (29.5) and A&M currently trail the Cornhusker men. On the women's side Iowa State (25), Missouri (25), Kansas State (21) and Texas Tech (20) are among the top five.
The team scoring includes five women's finals and seven men's finals of the 21 being contested this weekend at Terry and Linda Fuller Track.
In addition to the team score for the Big 12 title, Texas A&M needs both points in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown between the Aggies and the Longhorns to secure a tie in this year's series and enable A&M to keep the trophy they claimed for the first time last season. Texas leads the series 9.5 to 7.5 with the final two points available this weekend in Lubbock.
The Aggie track and field team earned the final two points required to capture last year's series during the Big 12 Outdoor meet in Boulder.
Following Reid's runner-up mark of 25-10.25 (7.88) in the long jump, Keenan Hall finished seventh with a mark of 24-10 (7.57). In 11th place was Zuheir Sharif with a leap of 24-1.75 (7.36).
Reid, the defending champion in the event, led the field going into the final round. His best mark came in the first round and held the lead throughout the night. Then in the sixth round Nebraska's Nicholas Gordon surpassed Reid with a 25-11.5 (7.91) effort.
"We are very pleased with the points we were able to score in the long jump," Reid noted. "During the indoor Big 12 we only had two in the final. In order to compete for the team championship we have to get as many points we can and not just focus on individual points.
"Now the pressure is on us to produce in the triple jump on Sunday to see if we get more points to challenge for the team title."
Otto completed his career best decathlon with competitive marks in the 110 hurdles (14.82), discus (128-10), a pole vault (14-11), javelin (168-2) and 1,500 (4:59.38). He set a personal best score of 7,655 amid a day of cool temperatures and wet conditions. Rain prompted the pole vault portion of the decathlon to be moved indoors.
"It was a solid meet for me overall," Otto said. "I don't think I had one single PR in any event, but I had solid marks and near personal bests in just about everything."
His point total of 7,655 ranks as the second best decathlete in Texas A&M history, trailing only the Aggie school record of 7,931 set by Ricky Barker in 1991. Otto had been 10th on the A&M performer list with his previous best score of 7,355 set during the Texas Relays in April.
Kansas State went 1-2-5 in the decathlon behind the winning score of 8,004 points by Moritz Cleve, who broke the meet record of 7,804 set by Aaron Fox of Texas in 1997.
Anteneshia Lindsey produced a toss of 166-6 (50.75) in the discus for fourth place. A 160-5 mark in the second round got Lindsey into the finals, where she improved to 165-3 in round five. Other Aggies in the event had Deidre Tarver placing 14th (146-11) while Emalie Humphreys finished 17th (144-0).
"The points are big for the team," Lindsey said. "I'm happy with fourth, but I felt like I could have done a little bit better. That's what I got today, but I'll do better at regionals."
Additional points for the women came in the long jump where Vashti Thomas placed fourth with a leap of 20-6.5 (6.26w) and in the heptathlon as Daphne Fitzpatrick finished eight with a point total of 4,597.
Thomas was injured in the fourth round of the long jump and missed the prelims of the 100 hurdles. Ashika Charan placed ninth with a mark of 19-11.75 (6.09w) while Yasmine Regis finished 10th with a 19-1.5 (6.08w).
The A&M men also scored three points in the high jump as teammates Seth Lowery and Chad Stoermer placed 12th in the pole vault, clearing 15-7 (4.75).
Sunday finals will feature a number of Aggie sprinters in the 100, 200 and 400. The men advanced Chris Dykes (10.38/20.58) in the 100 and 200 while Justin Oliver (46.63) and Brian Miller (46.77) moved on in the 400. De'Lon Isom (13.74) advanced to the 110 hurdle final.
In the women's sprints Porscha Lucas (11.33/22.85), Gabby Mayo (11.42/) and Dominique Duncan (11.61/23.54) qualified for both the 100 and 200 while Mayo added the 100 hurdles (13.33). Jessica Beard (53.12) and Brittany Machacek (55.05) qualified for the 400 final.